Mexican reporter under government protection killed in armed attack, officials say

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A Mexican reporter under government protection was killed Saturday evening in an armed attack, authorities said.

Jorge Armenta was the director of media outlet Medios Obson, in Ciudad Obregon in Northern Mexico.

One police officer was killed, and another was wounded in the attack, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.

Armenta had received death threats and was under government protection, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media watchdog group, said.

Sonora state Gov. Claudia Pavlovich Arellano said she has ordered an investigation “to establish and find those responsible for the reprehensible attack.”

Armenta is the third journalist killed in Mexico this year, according to RSF, which is also investigating his death.

In March, two armed assailants on motorbikes fatally shot reporter Maria Elena Ferral in the eastern state of Veracruz. In April the body of Victor Fernando Alvarez was found on April 11 in Acapulco more than a week after he disappeared.

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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed to tackle the murders of journalists after taking office in late 2018, but activists say his administration has been largely ineffective.

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RSF ranks Mexico among one of the most dangerous countries for reporters outside a war zone. The country currently ranks 143 out of 180 countries in the 2020 world press freedom index.