Violent Z-style protests spread across Mexico, sparked by mayor’s assassination

• Authorities report 20 arrests and 20 administrative detentions.
• Protests erupted nationwide following the assassination of Mayor Carlos Manzo on November 1.
• Gen Z Mexico leads marches, officials blame right-wing groups, robots.

Thousands demonstrated across Mexico on Saturday under the banner of “Generation Z”, denouncing the rising violence following the public killing of a crime-fighting mayor earlier this month.

In Mexico City, a small group of hooded protesters tore down fences around the National Palace where President Claudia Sheinbaum lives, sparking a clash with riot police who fired tear gas, Reuters witnesses said.

Mexico City’s public security secretary, Pablo Vazquez, told a news conference that 100 police officers were injured, including 40 who required hospital treatment. Another 20 civilians were also injured, Vasquez told local media outlet Milenio.

The public security secretary also said 20 people were arrested and another 20 “referred to for administrative offences”.

Other marches were held in cities across Mexico, including in the western state of Michoacan, where anger has flared over the Nov. 1 killing of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, who was shot at a public Day of the Dead event.

Some protesters in Mexico City aimed their anger at Sheinbaum’s party, chanting “Out, Morena.” Some also called for stronger government efforts to stop crime and violence, chanting: “Carlos didn’t die, the government killed him.”

A group calling itself “Generation Z Mexico” that called for protests said in a “manifesto” circulating on social media that it is non-partisan and represents Mexican youth fed up with violence, corruption and abuse of power.

Generation Z refers to people born between 1997 and 2012, hot on the heels of millennials, and protest groups in other countries around the world have picked up the label to push for social and political change.

Sheinbaum’s administration disputed the motivations behind Saturday’s marches, saying they were largely organized by right-wing political opponents and promoted by social media bots.