Sixth journalist attacked in Mexico; third killed in Tijuana

Marcos Ernesto Islas Flores, son of journalist Marco Antonio Islas Parra, was murdered on Sunday outside his home in Tijuana, Mexico. Within the first few days of 2022, the border city has recorded three journalists killed

"A few minutes ago my son Marcos Ernesto was shot four times outside my house," said Marco Islas on social media.

Both father and son reported for the local outlet Notiredes, which stopped operating last year. Marcos Ernesto administered the outlet’s social networks and managed the website, reported Infobae.

With this latest incident, Mexico has seen five murders and six attacks against journalists in the first few weeks of the year. On February 1, journalist Nezahualcóyotl Cordero reported that he was the victim of an assassination attempt in Cancun.

In January, journalists José Luis Gamboa was murdered in Veracruz and Roberto Toledo in Michoacán. Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martínez were killed in the city of Tijuana.

Following the first attacks, the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, ordered an investigation into the cases of Maldonado and Martínez to find those responsible for both murders.

"All violence is condemnable and it is even more so when it is exercised against those who strive to make truth an essential value in our society," she commented in a video published on January 24.

The State Attorney General's Office reported on Sunday the arrest of Jocssar Fidel 'N,' the person allegedly responsible for the murder of Marcos Islas. However, the entity said in a statement that the victim "was not carrying out any task related to informative work or the journalistic guild.”

Despite Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's claims that his government will not allow crimes against journalists to go unpunished, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Alejandro Encinas revealed that 90 percent of the murders of journalists in Mexico go unpunished.

Since 2000, at least 148 journalists have been murdered in Mexico, according to the human rights organization Article 19.