Vandalism due to the death of a lawyer spreads in Bogotá | Economy

19 CAI vandalized, 12 uniformed injured, three motorcycles incinerated, a patrol, an ambulance and a CTI vehicle affected, is the preliminary assessment of the authorities on the riots in Bogotá in which justice was demanded in the case of the lawyer Javier Ordóñez, who died after being a victim of police violence during an arrest in the capital.

A demonstration called on social media this Wednesday afternoon in the Villa Luz neighborhood to peacefully demand justice 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.

At the cry of “murderers, murderers”, some 300 people, mostly young people, threw stones, paint and other objects at the Immediate Action Command (CAI) of the Villa Luz neighborhood, in Bogotá, to which the two police officers involved were assigned. in fact.

At night, the attacks on the Police CAIs were repeated in other neighborhoods of Bogotá, such as La Gaitana, La Soledad, Ciudad Berna, Ciudad Roma and Usme, where protesters set fire to those facilities, without any reported victims among the uniformed or the protesters.

In Bogotá, at 8:00 p.m., the balance of the acts of vandalism was as follows:

Vandalized CAI:

– NCO Club
– CAI Gaitana (incinerated)
– CAI Villa Luz
– Ciudad Bolívar Police Station
– CAI Piedmont
-CAI Candelaria
– CAI Patio Bonito
-CAI Santander
– CAI Chapinero
– CAI City Bern
– CAI Galán
-CAI Matrovivienda
– CAI South highway station with 74 street
-CAI Santa Matilde
– CAI Tintal
– CAI Soledad are doing graffiti
– CAI La Libertad
– Santafé Police Station
– Ciudad Bolívar (Technological headquarters)
– CAI Villa Nidia
– CAI Arborizadora (total impact on the facilities)
– CAI Villa Luz
– CAI Verbenal

– 12 uniformed injured
– 3 incinerated motorcycles
– 1 patrol affected
– 1 ambulance affected
– 1 affected CTI vehicle

On the other hand, several videos circulated on social networks that showed cases of violence by the uniformed civilians in the middle of the riots.

One of the videos that was published shows how a patrol car is subdued by a mob that corners him on a platform. This would have occurred in the Bosa La Libertad sector, in the south of the city. The health status of this person is unknown.

Another video that is circulating on social networks shows how two agents flee from a group of protesters who are pursuing them. At one point, a person kicks one of the policemen, who after falling to the ground, is brutally attacked by dozens of people.

Likewise, there were disorders in front of police posts in other cities of the country, such as Medellín and Cali.

According to the Secretary of Security and Coexistence of Medellín, during the protests, hooded men attacked the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Command, forcing an Esmad squad to be sent to the place. In Cali, protesters took over an urban bus station and displayed a banner that read: “Police everywhere, Justice nowhere.”

The street violence was rejected by the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, who called the citizens to order. “Just as we condemn police abuse, we also condemn violence and vandalism by some protesters. Abuse and violence are not solved with more violence.

It is in these moments where we must cling to the Constitution and peaceful citizen mobilization, “said the mayor on her Twitter account.

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.

With EFE