This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Journalist Jorge Miguel Armenta Ávalos, director of the outlet Medios Obson, was killed in an armed attack in Ciudad Obregón, in the state of Sonora, Mexico, on May 16, according to information published by the state attorney general on Twitter.
The journalist was under government protection after receiving death threats, according to the BBC.
In addition to Armenta, a police officer was killed and another was injured in the attack, according to information from the attorney general's office.
Armenta "had been threatened and was under protection" of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, linked to the Mexican government, said the Mexican representative for Reporters Without Borders, Balbina Flores, as reported by DW.
#AlertaGUARDIAN #Obregon #Sonora Sujetos armados ejecutan al editor de Grupo Editorial Medios Obson el cual pública el medio electrónico El Tiempo, Jorge Armenta Ávalos. Dos de sus escoltas están graves. #Mexico #NosEstanMatando @PropuestaCivica @CPJAmericas @RSF_esp pic.twitter.com/GkyKupMCNy
— Periodistas Desplazados y Agredidos A.C. (@AlertaAMPDA) May 17, 2020
The country is one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists, according to the NGO.
At least two other media professionals have already been killed in the country in 2020. In April, the body of journalist Víctor Fernando Álvarez Chávez was found by authorities in the state of Guerrero. The journalist had suffered threats and was beheaded. In March, journalist María Elena Ferral was shot eight times in the state of Veracruz. She had reported to the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists that she had received threats.
The Mexican Association of Displaced and Assaulted Journalists published a note demanding that the authorities investigate the crime.
“Thanks to a series of investigations, we know that the State denied him the support of comprehensive protection against the threats he had been suffering, and that his murder occurred after he revealed to the authorities intimidations related to the exercise of media outlets; "Medios Obson" and "El Tiempo,” which reflected critical police journalism,” the note said.
