Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said the outrage over the shooting death of a boy during a kidnapping attempt this week was engineered to tarnish his government’s image ahead of upcoming elections.
The shooting happened this week in the city of Paraíso, Tabasco, when a gunman shot and killed 11-year-old Emiliano as he was walking down the street with his mother, Breitbart Texas reported. The incident went viral after a video was released showing the boy screaming, “I don’t want to die.” Emiliano died a few hours later at a local hospital. Initial reports suggested the shooting was an attempted kidnapping and that the boy was shot while trying to protect his mother.
President Lopez Obrador said at a morning press conference that the killings were “very unfortunate,” but with it being election season, the opposition was trying to hit the president hard, particularly by focusing on news of violence in his home state of Tabasco.
Governor Lopez Obrador said some of the information circulated about the incident was false to maximize outrage. He claimed that the incident was not an attempt to kidnap Emiliano’s mother, but that the gunman had targeted the 11-year-old boy. The Tabasco state government released a statement, claiming that the gunman went straight for Emiliano, noting that he was the target of the attack. Mexico’s Processor reportThe case has sparked further outrage, with Mexican journalists alleging that the government is trying to blame the 11-year-old boy for the murder in an attempt to shift the blame to President Lopez Obrador’s failed strategy.
The victim is Emiliano.
The victim is a Mexican child who begs them not to sleep in the street.
no.
He is the victim.
EL always alone.
EL imported exclusively.
But that’s not the case.
And the record was true.pic.twitter.com/CmBrkyitzZ— Leon Krause (@LeonKrauze) May 23, 2024
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist at Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. twitter and FacebookContact details: email address.
Brandon Darby is Managing Director and Editor in Chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart executives. twitter and FacebookContact details: email address.
