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Dozens of protesters demanding justice in the case of lawyer Javier Ordóñez, who died after being a victim of police violence during an arrest in Bogotá, clashed with the police on Wednesday in the street where he was detained before being taken to a hospital
At the cry of “murderers, murderers”, some 300 people, mostly young people, threw stones, paint and other objects at the Comando de Acción Inmediata (CAI) of the Villaluz neighborhood, in the west of Bogotá, to which the two were assigned. police involved in the incident.
Protesters they crossed tree branches on public roads and some used skateboards in which they came to the place to hit the windows of the police barracks while an anti-riot squad tried to put order in the situation.
In the midst of the upheaval, a motorcycle was set on fire and a vehicle of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Attorney General’s Office, which is in charge of clarifying the events that led to Ordóñez’s death, was attacked.
However, at dawn, 46 of the 153 CAI of Bogotá were reported destroyed or vandalized, banks and businesses looted in up to 90% of the city.
Of the clashes, at least five people died: three in Bogotá and two in Soacha, 30 police officers injured: 24 in Bogotá, three in Soacha and three in Madrid, Cundinamarca.
Meanwhile, 50 civilians have been admitted to hospitals for blunt force injuries.
Today is a day that hurts wherever you look at it. My condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed or injured. Destroying Bogotá will not fix the Police. Destroying us won’t fix anything. Let’s focus on achieving justice and structural reform for the security forces. pic.twitter.com/Ge1ylvGR8p
– Claudia López (@ClaudiaLopez) September 10, 2020
Abuse and brutality
The 46-year-old lawyer, the father of two young children, died in a clinic to which he was transferred after two policemen brutally beat him and the prolonged use of Taser electric pistols in front of the building where he lived.
The case has caused deep indignation in Colombia for the brutality of the agents in this episode, very similar to that of the African American George Floyd, who last May was squeezed by policemen from Minneapolis (USA) and died hours later in a hospital.
“Please, now”, “agent, I beg you”, the victim is heard saying, already immobilized in the middle of the street by the two policemen who tried to arrest him after an altercation, apparently for being under the influence of alcohol.
The images, which shook Colombians, were recorded by witnesses to the police abuse who even asked the agents not to cause further harm to the victim, without obtaining a response.
This afternoon’s demonstration in Villaluz was called on social networks by people who asked to go peacefully to the neighborhood CAI to demand justice, but the situation soon got out of control.
The disorders forced the neighborhood merchants to close their businesses and the Police sent the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (Esmad) to restore order.
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