A group of hooded individuals set the offices of the Mexican newspaper El Norte on fire in the city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico, on Sunday, July 29, reported El Norte.
This is the third attack in one month against El Norte since the first occurred on July 10 when the newspaper's offices in La Silla and Linda Vista were attacked with grenades and gunshots. Just as in the previous two events, no one was injured during this latest attack, however the first floor of the building was damaged.
A security video shows that the individuals attacked a security guard and then dumped fuel inside the newspaper's offices, according to the magazine Proceso. Afterward, a police car from the San Pedro municipality followed the alleged criminals' car, but they escaped. Thus far, no criminal organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, and no clues were left behind as to the motives for the crime.
The newspaper said it has suffered six similar attacks since 2010, and none of them were investigated.
The freedom of expression organization Article 19 called for protection measures for the newspaper El Norte's journalists and said that widespread impunity encourages attackers to commit these types of crimes against the Mexican press.
Mexico is the most dangerous country in the Americas for journalists. See this map about attacks against the Mexican press made by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
