Mexican reporter gunned down after judge removes police protection

A relatively recent story from two years ago published in the Columbia Journalism Review did a good job describing what Mexican journalists face on a daily basis covering local crime news, as described by an independent journalist from the northern part of the country:

“The primary challenge for journalists in Mexico is simply staying alive. Journalists often wear bulletproof vests when they fear assassination. But…a protective vest will do nothing for you if you are kidnapped before being murdered, as is often the case in Mexico. In fact, there is only so much a small, underfunded news organization can do to build defenses against adversaries armed with assault rifles and grenades. Before, with organized crime, you got three warnings, one editor noted. Now there is no warning.” Into that news vacuum, at times, steps an independent journalist who writes about the drug cartels. They know they are risking their life, but do it anyway.

Daylight Assassination

Two weeks ago, as reported by Breitbart.com, in a story co-written by seasoned border reporters Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, one such reporter/activist, if you will, Gabriel Hernández Tovar, paid the ultimate price for his reporting on the Gulf Cartel.

From the July 20 Breitbart story:

“The killing happened last week when a group of gunmen shot and killed Gabriel Hernández Tovar as he drove down a busy boulevard in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Hernández had been a vocal activist who had exposed how the Gulf Cartel had been terrorizing the citizens of Reynosa through the widespread use of ransom kidnappings. He had also worked with groups that searched for clandestine gravesites used by the criminal organization to dispose of their victims.”

In his reporting on social media, Hernández recently called out a Gulf Cartel commander by name and claimed that he had been responsible for a wave of ransom kidnappings that had targeted small business owners in Reynosa.

According to Breitbart, at least one other news source in the U.S., and several in Mexico, Hernández had previously survived four kidnappings by cartel gunmen. In three of those, his family paid a ransom and he was freed. This was circa 2021. After he was kidnapped a fourth time, he managed to escape, and it was after that incident that a Mexican judge awarded him police protection.

According to Breitbart.com, though, despite reporting a recent death threat, a judge removed Hernández’s security detail, so to speak, and just days later, he was gunned down in broad daylight on a busy Reynosa boulevard.

“Just five days before his murder, Hernández submitted documents and letters requesting renewed protection — all were denied.” (Source: americanfaith.com.)

During the attack, Gabriel Hernández Tovar lost control of his vehicle after a group of gunmen started shooting at him, and drove it into an irrigation canal, from which authorities would later recover his body. (Source: Breitbart.)

According to a story published last year (March 2024) by amnesty.org, “In addition to killings and disappearances, journalists in Mexico face constant threats, harassment, and physical and psychological abuse, both by public officials and by members of organized crime groups. Most threats and attacks are linked to the country’s ongoing struggle with violent criminal groups, the militarization of the so-called war on drugs and the failure of law enforcement agencies to keep journalists and the public safe amid alleged corruption.”

RIP, Gabriel Hernández Tovar, citizen/journalist/activist.