Since 3:00 p.m., when the first contingent of women demonstrating for the #8M arrived at the Zócalo in the capital, demonstrators and police remain at odds. As a result of this and other incidents, 25 people have been reported injured so far.
Over the course of two and a half hours, a small group of women has tried to tear down the fences that were placed to protect the National Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral. With hammers and aerosols, its members have been hitting the structure without being able to throw it away.
When they tried to climb the fences, police from the Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) retreated them by activating their fire extinguishers.
As the minutes passed and before the arrival of more women who seek to demolish the structures, uniformed activated the extinguishers, which, the demonstrators accuse, not only had extinguisher powder, but a combination with pepper spray. This, despite the fact that the authorities insist that they do not use it.
The #SSC informs: Female #AgrupamientoAteneas personnel do not carry gas of any kind, only personal protective equipment and fire extinguishers to mitigate any fire. https://t.co/328ehSi4mx
— SSC CDMX (@SSC_CDMX) March 8, 2022
“By way of information, it is important to reiterate that for their containment activities, police women only have a shield, helmet and fire extinguishers,” Martí Batres, Secretary of Government of the CDMX, wrote on his Twitter account.
Members of the Marabunta Brigade, who loaded atomizers with water and some other substances, rushed to provide care to the women who said the dust burned their eyes and face.
“It’s a combination of fire extinguisher powder with pepper spray, that’s why it burns so much,” said one of the Marabunta members who was helping the girls.
“Quiet, nothing happens. It’s going to happen, just don’t touch yourself and carve your eyes,” he recommended.
The action of the capital police led to the women who hit the fences retreating in search of help.
“The police do not take care of me, my friends take care of me”, “They are afraid of us” and “I wish they were outraged when they kill a woman” are some of the slogans that are heard in the Zócalo.
Read: #8M: Women take to the streets of Mexico City
Women have also tried to tear down the fences that were placed in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral. As has happened in the National Palace, the response of the police has been to activate their fire extinguishers.
In the area, outside these two walled spaces, there is no presence of any police element, not even traffic.
In the distance, some elements of the Fire Department and the Mexican Red Cross follow up on the mobilization.
By 5:30 p.m., a group of women continued to pound the fences in front of the National Palace seeking to tear them down.
The police operate their fire extinguishers from small gaps between fences.
Before 6:00 p.m., Secretary Batres reported that there were 25 people injured, including police and civilians. That figure included the young women who were injured when they broke glass at the Hidalgo Metro station.
Right now, the @SSC_CDMX reports 25 people who required medical attention at the March 8 march. Of these, three merited transfer to hospitals: the police wounded in the face and the two ambushed demonstrators who knocked down the glass structure of the Hidalgo subway.
— Martí Batres (@martibatres) March 8, 2022
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