A Mexican governor used social media to slam news outlets which reported on the violent attack of a journalist who eventually died. The politician claimed media prematurely reported the journalist’s death to criticize his administration. The victim was the previous target of threats from at least one other politician.
On Monday, two gunmen on a motorcycle approached Maria Elena Ferral in Veracruz and shot at her eight times. The journalist was struck three times and was rushed to a hospital where, according to the International Press Institute, she died hours later. Ferral wrote for El Diario de Xalapa and owned an independent outlet called El Quinto Poder.
Moments after the attack, Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia took to social media to mock outlets for prematurely reporting the journalist’s eventual death.
“You wish so much ill on someone to be able to attack a government.” Garcia tweeted.
Lamento mucho que en estos momentos que estamos tratando de salvarle la vida a la periodista María Elena Ferral, algunos de sus colegas ya la hayan dado por muerta en sus “noticias”. ¿Tanto mal le desean a la gente con tal de tener la oportunidad de golpear a un gobierno?
— Cuitláhuac García (@CuitlahuacGJ) March 30, 2020
Overnight, Ferral succumbed to her injuries, marking the third homicide of its kind in Mexico in 2020.
Six hours after mocking journalists, the governor tweeted again confirming Ferral’s death and promised law enforcement agencies would work to find the responsible parties.
A pesar del gran esfuerzo del equipo médico por salvarle la vida, lamentamos enormemente que hace unos minutos haya fallecido la periodista María Elena Ferral.
1/3
— Cuitláhuac García (@CuitlahuacGJ) March 31, 2020
In 2016, Proceso Magazine reported on Ferral’s complaint filed with Mexico’s Attorney General after a local politician named Basilio Camerlino Picazo threatened her with kidnapping and murder at a restaurant.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report
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