User:Crtew/Héctor González Antonio

Héctor González Antonio, (ca. 1978 – May 29, 2018), a national journalist for the daily newspaper Excélsior, in Mexico City, Mexico, was kidnapped and beaten death with his body left dumped in the middle of the street and later discovered by locals.

Personal
Héctor González Antonio was 40-years old at the time of his murder and had a girlfriend, who he was with the night of his murder. There was a wake for González on May 30 where he was laid to rest by his mother, Reyna Antonio.>

Career
Héctor González Antonio was a Mexican journalist with the Excelsior and the television broadcaster Imagen. He was mostly known for covering crime and politics. He is also a founder of a news website known as Todos Noticias. Before working for Excelsior, he worked for a newspaper in Ciudad Victoria. The newspaper was called Expreso. At this newspaper, González was a reporter. While reporting crime, González released some articles about how four police officers got arrested due to their involvement in a kidnapping. He also covered a story about a shootout from gangs.

Death
Héctor González Antonio was covering a story about murders that had been happening in his home state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The story he was covering was about all the crimes and violence that were breaking out in his home state. He had previously written about another journalist getting stabbed to death, so he was already being watched by people for writing about the crimes. Along with the stabbing story, he also was covering a shootout that occurred and a disappearance. Although the motive of González killing is not identified, authorities believe that it may have been due to his work and the current stories he was covering.

He was with his girlfriend the night of May 28 before he died. He left her house around 11 p.m. that night and afterwards was jumped by three cartel hitmen who he did not know and who beat him to death and left his body in the street located in the neighborhood Estrella. He was found in the morning.

Forensics did an evaluation of his body to determine the cause of death. González died from being beaten to death as the results from his examination showed that he was struck in the head 24 times with rocks. The police were able to use video from cameras in the street during their investigation. The cameras revealed information about the killing that led to an arrest. The police arrested a man named Oscar Zuriel September 3, 2018, based on identification from the cameras. Other suspects were identified and arrested, including a family member of the former mayor.

Context
In a four-month time period, the number of deaths in Mexico has been increasing. So far, there have been 45 attacks on journalists in the country. 29 of the journalists have been men and the other 16 were women. Hector González Antonio became the sixth journalist assassinated this year. Officials believe that the attacks are happening because of the upcoming election. The closer the election approaches, the more killings keep happening. Because of the number of deaths for media workers, (over 100 have died since 2000), Mexico has now become the most dangerous country for journalist to work in. The deaths of the journalists have been linked to state officials and crime and drug trafficking.

Impact
Héctor González Antonio was a well known journalist in Mexico. He worked in media at Excelsior and Grupo Imagen. He was mostly known for reporting on crime, security, drug trafficking and justice. Those topics have also been dangerous ones for journalists in Mexico.

Reactions
Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, said, "I trust that the authorities will investigate these crimes and bring their perpetrators to trial. This is essential for the defense of the fundamental human right that is freedom of expression and for the preservation of the Mexican public’s right to be kept informed."

Héctor González Antonio's editorial director, Pascal Beltran, tweeted about the loss of his colleague and how justice needs to be brought to him and his family.