Mexican Law Enforcement - An Anecdote

Check out this report from the far-southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

With the argument “they could be kidnappers,” citizens and authorities of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas apprehended, disarmed and jailed four ministerial police who had tried to execute an order of arrest of an indigenous Indian man accused of a violation.

The police agents were rescued in an atmosphere of tension in a town square gathering of municipal and state authorities in the presence of a thousand townspeople who demanded the four be released so they could be lynched for “extortion.”

The incident began when the police entered an indigenous neighborhood looking for the man known only as Fernando. The police group apparently made the mistake of arrogant behavior in their inquiries and pointed guns at the people while searching. Citing that they did not know the police officers and that “there are kidnappers and insecurity everywhere,” they demanded identification from the officers as well as their order of arrest, which was denied.

The public conflict was finally settled by authorities by confiscating the officers’ firearms and fining them 63,000 pesos [about $5800] and then turning them over to federal authorities. Despite all that, the Indians continued demanding the release of the four so they could “beat them.”

So, in a nutshell, federal agents go into town to exercise an arrest warrant and the townspeople apprehend them and put them in jail. Then, the townspeople gather for a lynching. Finally, authorities get involved and the agents are fined and turned over to federal authorities.

Wait a minute. Didn't the agents start out as federal agents looking for an offender?

It seems that the townspeople of San Juan Chamula don't want to see no stinking badges. If they do, they are willing to jail the agents and even lynch them. Why am I reminded of the American West circa 1800s?