Person Shot by Police at Fundraiser Outside of Casa Naranja Squat

From Unicorn Riot

Four squad cars of local police attacked a fundraiser party outside of Casa Naranja Okupa – a nine-year old squat. People were raising funds to start a bike collective. After the early morning incident on Saturday, December 19th, one person is still hospitalized from police gunfire but expected to recover fully.

The police came in from two directions and shot one person twice. Three others were arrested, and released early Sunday. After the three compañeros were released, the Sunday afternoon press conference was cancelled. The social media page LosTejemedios will have updates and info for supporting them.

This is the latest communique on their page:

It’s a great day. The three detained compañeros have been released. The press meeting for 3pm in the Tlalnepantla Center has been canceled. Thanks so much for the support, we’ll be sharing more information quickly, thanks for sharing.

The first communique on their page states:

On Friday, December 18th there was a party at the Casa Naranja squat with the aim to fund-raise for the construction of a community bike workshop. At around 12 am, the party moved from inside the house to the street for a game of tall bike jousting. Everything was going peacefully until a patrol car pulled up claiming a neighbor had complained about the noise and that they should stop the activities; compañeros stated the game would end and people would return to the house; the patrol car left the scene. About 15 minutes later police returned with 3 or 4 more patrol cars; the officers jumped out of their vehicles without any announcement and proceeded to try to violently make arrests. One group of compañeros decided to return to the house while others tried to protect their comrades. The police used pepper spray and fired live ammunition “into the air” striking compañero Victor Alfonso Estrada Almaraz (Pasto) in the chest and abdomen, puncturing his intestine. After the shots were fired the police quickly left the scene. When the police left, the compañeros returned inside the house, at this moment Victor’s wounds were noticed. Minutes later, compañeros realized police had arrested 3 people. Brandon Contreras, Brenda Morales, and a foreign comrade Benyam (we don’t know his last name).

The compañero Victor was taken to the red cross where his health is reported to be in stable condition. The compañeros Brandon, Brenda, and Benyam are still being held at the Tlalnepantla detention center; from this moment police are refusing to give clear information about their situation. What we know at this time is that no charges have been made before a judge, they have not determined the crimes they are being accused of, they refuse to give information about compañero Benyamin (at this time we don’t know if he has made contact with a lawyer or his embassy). The compañeros Brenda and Brandon it seems have made contact with a lawyer contracted by their family but they are still without much information about the process.

Tags: Casa Naranja Okupa