A shootout in northern Mexico killed nine American citizens, including six children. Apparently, a drug cartel thought the SUVs belonged to a rival drug cartel.
President Donald Trump declared the U.S. “stands ready, willing & able” to help Mexico eliminate “these monsters.”
The victims resided “in the La Mora religious community in northern Mexico, a decades-old settlement in Sonora state founded as part of an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around 70 miles south of Douglas, Arizona.”
The gunmen murdered three women and six children. The shootout left six children injured.
Fox News reported it may not have been mistaken identity:
Early reports indicated the tragedy could have been a case of mistaken identity, but recent history also raises the possibility the LeBaron family was the intended target: only a decade ago, two members of the family opposed to local drug trafficking groups were kidnapped and murdered, according to the New York Times.Mexico’s federal Department of Security and Citizens’ Protection said security forces were reinforced with National Guard, army and state police troops in the area following “the reports about disappearance and aggression against several people.” The troops were searching for the missing community members, believed to include 11 children or more.
Trump responded this morning with an offer to help Mexico.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador began his presidential administration by swearing the drug war over in Mexico. Unfortunately, the “murder rate has hit record highs this year.” People have said the president’s situation has not worked.
López Obrador described it as “a regrettable situation.” He also said Mexico doesn’t “need intervention.”
He added that Mexico already “declared war, and it didn’t work.” Therefore it “is not an option.”
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