Televisa cameraman Juan César Martínez was hit in the face and had his equipment taken by members of the federal police as he was covering a confrontation between the authorities and armed gang members in the northern city of of Monterrey, Vanguardia reports.
According to a police report, the battle left one officer dead and three wounded, Adital explains. Mexico’s Center for Journalism and Public Ethics and IFEX report that as Martínez prepared to film, three police covered his lens to stop him. However, when the reporter lowered his camera, one officer punched him and broke his glasses, while the others took his camera. The equipment was eventually returned
Televisa executive Ernesto Jiménez said that while the station would not submit a formal complaint, they will go public. “We are not going to stay quiet. However, our colleague is afraid that if there is a criminal complaint, it could lead to more aggression against him,” he explained, quoted by IFEX.
Both Martínez and Televisa have faced violence before. The cameraman was attacked by the police while covering a protest in 2008, and the station has suffered multiple grenade attacks and a car bombing.
See this Knight Center map for more information about violence against journalists in Mexico.
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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.
