Ciro Gomez Leyva, one of Mexico’s best known journalists and TV anchors, survived an assassination attempt close to his home in Mexico City, an escalation of the violence that has made the country one of the world’s most dangerous for reporters.
Gomez Leyva was attacked by two people on a motorcycle at 11:10 p.m. on Thursday when he was 200 meters (656 feet) from his house, he said in a post on Twitter. He survived the shooting thanks to his armored car, he said, adding pictures of what appears to be the impact of bullets against his vehicle.
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed his solidarity with Gomez Leyva on Friday, saying that, despite their differences, he repudiates any attempt on someone’s life.
“Fortunately there were no fatal, serious consequences, and we celebrate him because he is a journalist, a human being, but also a leader of public opinion, and to harm to a personality like Ciro generates a lot of political instability,” he said during his daily news conference. “No one should be attacked, much less have their life taken.”
In his four years in power, the president has repeatedly attacked the journalists who are critical of his administration, often singling out Gomez Leyva. He has questioned the finances of the media company where Gomez is a television host and the ethics of Gomez’s past reporting. Gomez Leyva in 2021 called the president’s comments against him “intimidation.”
Just this Wednesday, Lopez Obrador said as a joke that listening to reporters like Gomez Leyva could be so harmful to listeners’ health it “could give you a brain tumor.”
Mexico City authorities, including the police chief, the prosecutor’s office and the mayor, are investigating the incident and the motorcycle used in the attack has been identified.
At least 13 journalists were killed in Mexico in the first eight months of 2022, according to an August report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the highest number that the organization has ever documented in the country in a single year. Still, attacks against reporters in the capital Mexico City are relatively rare.
Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s mayor, said the local government is giving Gomez Leyva protection and that it has started an investigation into the incident, looking at security camera footage.
--With assistance from Carolina Gonzalez and Maya Averbuch.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
