Coahuila State Police officers kicked, beat, tased, sexually assaulted, tear gassed, pulled hair and then arrested De la Garza for parking at a state employee parking spot and refusing to move her vehicle.
By H. Nelson Goodson
December 5, 2013
Saltillo, Caohuila, Mexico - On Tuesday, the Vanguardia posted a YouTube video that showed Susana Rita Enríquez de la Garza being beaten, kicked, tased, sexually assaulted, tear gassed, hair pulled and then arrested for refusing to move her vehicle from a Coahuila state government employee's parking space. She told an officer that she could also park there, since she payed taxes. The officer disagreed with De la Garza and exceeded his authority to enforce a reserve parking space for only state employees.
The incident with De la Garza began inside of the Secretary of Labor (Secretaria de Trabajo) building at the local Labor Arbitration and Conciliation Council in Saltillo where De la Garza went for a labor dispute case. She filed a complaint about a domestic worker that she hired for stealing $300.00 ($3,000 pesos) from her home. De la Garza has been waiting more than five years for justice in the case. She went to the Labor Council to get some papers regarding her case, but parked in a reserved parking space.
The local president of the labor arbitration council, Oralia Rodríguez Rosas argued with De la Garza for parking in a reserved space exclusively for a high level state employee. Rosas called Caohuila State Police and De la Garza was forcibly taken out of the building. De la Garza admitted that she resisted arrested, but disagrees with the excessive force used by police. She plans to file a civil lawsuit against Rosas and at least ten officers, including several female officers involved in the incident.
Rosas claims through a government press release, that De la Garza had no business or authorization to be at the building and that she became angry and tossed some desk papers around. So, Rosas says, she called police to remove De la Garza from the office building.
Ricardo Aguire Cuéllar, the Commissioner for Public Security told Radio Zócalo that an investigation has been launched and if officers exceeded their authority, that they will be sanctioned or prosecuted. But, Cuéllar justified the officers use of force in arresting De la Garza, after she resisted. De la Garza apparently assaulted a female officer as she called for backup. De la Garza slapped the officer and ripped her uniform shirt, according to Cuéllar.
De la Garza says, that she was unconscious for 10 hours after getting arrested and that the officers, sprayed her three more times with tear gas while she was handcuffed in the back of the truck. She spend an extra two hours at the state police delegation and had to admit that she resisted arrest in order to post a $500 ($5,000 pesos) bail.
The incident with De la Garza began inside of the Secretary of Labor (Secretaria de Trabajo) building at the local Labor Arbitration and Conciliation Council in Saltillo where De la Garza went for a labor dispute case. She filed a complaint about a domestic worker that she hired for stealing $300.00 ($3,000 pesos) from her home. De la Garza has been waiting more than five years for justice in the case. She went to the Labor Council to get some papers regarding her case, but parked in a reserved parking space.
The local president of the labor arbitration council, Oralia Rodríguez Rosas argued with De la Garza for parking in a reserved space exclusively for a high level state employee. Rosas called Caohuila State Police and De la Garza was forcibly taken out of the building. De la Garza admitted that she resisted arrested, but disagrees with the excessive force used by police. She plans to file a civil lawsuit against Rosas and at least ten officers, including several female officers involved in the incident.
Rosas claims through a government press release, that De la Garza had no business or authorization to be at the building and that she became angry and tossed some desk papers around. So, Rosas says, she called police to remove De la Garza from the office building.
Ricardo Aguire Cuéllar, the Commissioner for Public Security told Radio Zócalo that an investigation has been launched and if officers exceeded their authority, that they will be sanctioned or prosecuted. But, Cuéllar justified the officers use of force in arresting De la Garza, after she resisted. De la Garza apparently assaulted a female officer as she called for backup. De la Garza slapped the officer and ripped her uniform shirt, according to Cuéllar.
De la Garza says, that she was unconscious for 10 hours after getting arrested and that the officers, sprayed her three more times with tear gas while she was handcuffed in the back of the truck. She spend an extra two hours at the state police delegation and had to admit that she resisted arrest in order to post a $500 ($5,000 pesos) bail.
The whole incident was video taped in front of witnesses who went on record that they were willing to testify against four to five Coahuila State Police officers involved in using excessive force during a government parking spot violation incident. The officers threaten and attempted to stop any video recording of the incident by spectators drawn to the scene by De la Garza's screams of pain and pleas for help.
The witnesses say, the officers used excessive force and De la Garza even went under the police truck in an attempt to protect her self from being beaten and abuse. She was pulled out from under the truck by her clothing, stockings that exposed her bare buttocks and the officers grabbed her from other private parts to subdue her. Which witnesses say, the officers sexually assaulted her.
She was kicked, had her hair pulled and beaten while getting tased and sprayed with tear gas as officers tried to subdue De la Garza.
De la Garza could be heard screaming and telling police that what they were doing was illegal. She was forced into the back of police truck open bed after being handcuffed and taken away for booking.
Photos: Twitter
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