Violent protests broke out in Bogota, Colombia, on Wednesday night after the death of a Colombian father of two who died after police electrocuted him with a paralyzing gun.
On social media he circulated a video of the encounter between the man, Javier Humberto Ordoez, and two officials, where you can see Ordoez, 46, face down as two officials kneel on him and pointed at him with his crippling pistols. “Please, no more, ” as long as witnesses urge the police to stop. He later died in a local hospital.
Police said the incident took place in the capital early Wednesday morning when Ordoez drank alcohol on the street with others, violating social est breach regulations designed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Officers have been relieved of their duties while investigations are ongoing, the government said. .
Colonel Guillén Alexander Amaya Olmos, the local police chief, said police had been called to report a street fight through concerned neighbors and that police had arrived to locate 8 “drunk” people. “They’ve become aggressive,” Amaya told the local, media. “The police will have to have subdued them. “
In an interview with Seguya News, Juan David Uribe, a guy who claimed to be with Ordoez, called the union’s account “fake” and said there had been no discussion.
Police said officials were responding to a dispute involving several other people who had been drinking and violating social est breach regulations. Pic. twitter. com/ouEzMbv2ZT
The video lured many protesters to the streets, many of whom clashed with the outdoor police at the police station where Ordoez was being held. Buses and police stations were set on fire and many businesses and cars were damaged.
At least seven other people were killed during the protests, according to the authorities, and police arrested about 70 others. There were 248 other people injured, adding up to a hundred policemen, Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez said.
Five of the dead were shot dead, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told the press, who praised the data that led to the capture of the “homicide perpetrators. “
He condemned the incident on Twitter, calling it an example of “unacceptable police brutality,” but suggested protesters in chorus for vandalism and violence. “I am well aware that we want structural reform of the police,” Lopez said. “But destroying Bogota is going to fix the police. “
In an interview with Reuters, the circle of ordoez relatives called for justice and nonviolent protests. “He murdered through the police,” said Eliana Marcela Garzón, his former sister-in-law. “We don’t need (deaths) in a country. ” already complete from the conflict, we need justice. “
Garzón said police reform is needed, especially for young people and nephews. “I don’t need them to grow up with the feeling that there is no justice in this country,” he said. “I need them to grow up knowing that the legislation is to be respected. “