Brad Will remembered in Oaxaca

A Brad Will poster hangs at Hemiciclo Plaza Park in Mexico City.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, thousands of teachers and activists marched on Saturday tomark the first anniversary of the murder of American journalist Brad Will. Demonstrators marched from the state government building to the zocalo where they left floral arrangements in memory of the deceased journalist.

The protest was organized by APPO, the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca. Marcelino Coache of APPO said the Mexican government used Will’s death as an excuse to send in federal troops last year to crush the popular uprising.

Marcelino Coache said, “Brad Will’s death was very tragic because he’s a journalist who conveyed information to the international media and that was valuable for the movement, however, the death of a foreign journalist was fundamental for the state government, so that they could involve the federal police.”

Meanwhile the Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Mexican President Felipe Calderon to investigate Brad Will’s murder. No one has been charged with the killing even though local newspapers published photographs identifying the gunmen as local police officials dressed in civilian clothes.

from Democracy Now