Mexico charges police who killed mayor's bodyguard

Published November 17, 2014

Federal prosecutors in Mexico have charged two federal police officers with killing a bodyguard assigned to the mayor of the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, authorities said Friday.

The shooting has raised tensions, with Mayor Hector Murguia claiming that overbearing officers shot the bodyguard even though he obeyed their orders to lay down his weapon.

The guards were standing outside a house where Murguia was holding meetings when the federal agents approached Tuesday.

The Public Safety Department has said the federal agents went to the house to investigate a citizen's report about the presence of armed men there. The department says the federal police claim the guards refused to identify themselves or lower their weapons.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement Friday that the officers are charged with homicide, abuse of authority and improper behavior, and that two officers have already been detained.

Thousands of federal police have largely taken over policing in Ciudad Juarez, where drug-gang violence has claimed about 6,000 lives over the past two years.

Murguia and Interior Minister Francisco Blake insisted the shooting would not affect cooperation between the local and federal governments.

The two met in Mexico City on Friday to discuss the security strategy for Ciudad Juarez.

"Unfortunately, these events hurt, they are part of the difficult times. But institutions in no way can be eroded, or shaken up, much less confront each other," Murguia said.

Blake promised to accelerate the disbursement of $100 million pesos ($8 million) to strengthen municipal police in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua state police. He said the funds would go toward creating a model state police unit of 422 officers — newly trained in investigative tactics — to patrol the city. He said efforts to professionalize and clean up the Ciudad Juarez municipal police would continue.

(This version CORRECTS that there will be one model police unit, not several stations)

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexico-charges-police-who-killed-mayors-bodyguard