Police officers from the Centauro Immediate Reaction Tactical Group of the Guerrero State Police were captured on video beating merchants, raiding a tortilla factory, and threatening civilians with weapons in Chilpancingo.
The attack, which occurred in the San José neighborhood, north of the capital, has sparked outrage after going viral on social media.
The state Public Security Secretariat, headed by General Josué Barrón Sevilla, stated that the officers’ intervention occurred after an anonymous complaint of alleged illicit activities.
However, following the release of the video, the agency announced the opening of an internal procedure through the Internal Affairs Unit to review the actions of the officers involved.
In the video, posted on Facebook by Melisa DeLara, a hooded, armed officer wearing tactical gear can be seen violently subduing a civilian who refused to be searched.
Abuse of Authority
After pulling him by the clothing, the officer drew his weapon and threatened him. Shortly after, two other officers on a motorcycle entered the Azteca tortilla shop and subdued employees while neighbors watched, who intervened to stop the attack.
The complainant accused the officers of previously extorting her family and stated that her father, uncle, and employees were assaulted without justification.
“According to them, they are the ones who take care of us and they are the same ones who come to harass us,” she wrote. The SSP, however, described what happened as a “verbal exchange” in its official statement.
This latest case of police abuse adds to the history of the Centauro Group, whose members were involved in the murder of student Yanqui Kothan Gómez Peralta, a student from Ayotzinapa, in March 2024.
Civil society organizations and residents of Chilpancingo are demanding justice and an end to the repressive practices by security forces in the state governed by Morena’s Evelyn Salgado Pineda.
Source: elimparcial
