Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed that this week’s outrage over the fatal shooting of a young boy during a failed kidnapping was manufactured as a way to hurt his government image due to the upcoming elections.
The shooting took place this week in the city of Paraiso, Tabasco, where a group of gunmen shot and killed 11-year-old Emiliano, who was walking along a street with his mother, Breitbart Texas reported. The incident went viral when a video captured the moment when Emiliano yelled out, “I don’t want to die,” only to die hours later at a local hospital. Initial information pointed to the shooting having been an attempted kidnapping and the boy having been shot while trying to defend his mother.
During his morning news conference, Lopez Obrador said the murder was “very lamentable”; however, since it was electoral season, his opposition was working to hurt him by focusing on news about violence, particularly in Tabasco, his home state.
Lopez Obrador said that some of the information shared about the case was false as a way to maximize outrage. He claimed that the case wasn’t an attempt to kidnap Emiliano’s mother but that the gunmen had gone after the 11-year-old boy. The Tabasco government issued a statement claiming that the gunmen had gone straight for Emiliano, pointing to him having been a target of the attack, Mexico’s Proceso reported. The case has sparked further outrage as journalists in Mexico claim the government is trying to blame the 11-year-old boy for his murder as a way to divert blame away from the failed strategies of Lopez Obrador.
La víctima no es Emiliano.
La víctima no es el niño mexicano que imploraba no morir tirado en la calle.
No.
La víctima es él.
Siempre y solamente EL.
Solo importa EL.
Pero ya se va.
Y la historia registrará su verdadero tamaño.pic.twitter.com/CmBrkyitzZ— León Krauze (@LeonKrauze) May 23, 2024
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.