National Palace Breached in Mexico City Riot
“Thousands of protesters swarmed Mexico City Saturday, attacking police officers and attempting to breach a security barrier around the National Palace.”
Mexico City descended into chaos on Saturday as thousands of mostly Gen Z protesters surged into the historic center, clashing with police and tearing down security barriers surrounding the National Palace. What started as a march over corruption, cartel violence, and distrust of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s security policies quickly transformed into a rolling street riot that left more than one hundred police officers injured and the government scrambling for explanations.
I went to Mexico City last weekend and asked protesters what they thought about Trump sending U.S. troops to Mexico to fight the cartels.
While they agreed Mexican governments have failed on the issue of cartels, they don't want U.S. troops in Mexico 👇 pic.twitter.com/ZtytnEKl4f
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 15, 2025
The spark was the assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, a vocal anti-cartel crusader who had publicly warned that he feared he would be killed for confronting criminal groups. His murder hit a national nerve. Demonstrators arrived in cowboy hats to honor him and carried banners reading “We are all Carlos Manzo.” Many described the country as collapsing under the weight of crime and state inaction. One protester told the Associated Press she marched because even doctors work under constant threat.
“[Doctors] are also exposed to the insecurity gripping the country, where you can be murdered and nothing happens.”
Another marcher, who traveled from Michoacán, said Manzo represented the kind of leader Mexico needs but rarely gets.
“The state is dying. He was killed because he was a man who was sending officers into the mountains to fight delinquents. He had the guts to confront them.”
Manzo himself had warned just weeks before his death that he needed stronger federal support.
“We need greater determination from the president of Mexico. I do not want to be just another mayor on the list of those who have been executed. I am very afraid, but I must face it with courage.”
As crowds filled Zócalo Square, what was initially a loud but peaceful protest escalated when frontline demonstrators wearing masks and hoods pushed into police shields. Officers attempted to hold formation, but the crowd grew more aggressive. Tear gas drifted across the square as the first clashes broke out.
Anti-cartel protesters in Mexico City chant that President Claudia Sheinbaum is a “narco-president!” pic.twitter.com/9Mm8JZlW4Q
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 15, 2025
According to Fox News, rioters began dragging officers out of formation, beating them with hammers, chains, and makeshift weapons. They stripped police of shields and radios, then hurled explosive devices across the plaza.
“Plumes of tear gas filled the street as hooded protesters dragged riot police out of formation, beat them with hammers and chains and threw explosive devices at them.”
Police fell back as the crowd moved toward the National Palace. Officers attempted to mount a new defensive line, but videos show protesters pushing harder, overpowering them, and advancing toward the heavy metal barricades that protect the complex where Sheinbaum lives.
Protesters have arrived to the Zocalo in Mexico City. The crowd is starting to bang on the wall protecting the National Palace and are trying to cut through the wall. pic.twitter.com/MNVKWaDegu
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 15, 2025
The barrier became the turning point. Demonstrators began ripping it apart, piece by piece. Some climbed over the wall. Others smashed it with stolen shields and metal poles. The wall finally gave way under the force of the crowd.
“Demonstrators dismantled parts of a barrier protecting the National Palace.”
Police deployed more tear gas, but it did not stop the breach. Portions of the security perimeter collapsed as the demonstrators pushed inside.
“Thousands of protesters swarmed Mexico City Saturday, attacking police officers and attempting to breach a security barrier around the National Palace.”
The anti-Sheinbaum crowd in Mexico City continues to attempt to tear down the security wall protecting the National Palace. Mexican police are deploying CS powder and flashbangs. pic.twitter.com/Nx8NEDaP55
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 15, 2025
The fighting left at least 120 people injured, including 100 police officers, according to city officials. Many suffered contusions, cuts, and blunt-force trauma. Dozens were hospitalized. Security leaders said that despite the extraordinary violence, officers had been ordered not to attack the crowd.
“Mexico City Police only carried out containment work and did not repress protesters or respond to the provocations.”
Anti-Sheinbaum crowd in Mexico City used metal barricades to ram into the line of riot police that were holding shields. Much of the security wall protecting the National Palace has been torn down. pic.twitter.com/5XabOdqRXt
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 15, 2025
President Sheinbaum, facing mounting pressure over rising cartel violence and high-profile assassinations, responded by accusing right-wing political actors of funding and promoting the demonstrations.
“Sheinbaum said the marches had been funded by right-wing politicians who oppose her government.”
Her administration has already been criticized for refusing U.S. military assistance to fight cartels and for claiming that online activity before the march was driven by bots.
But the scenes in Mexico City tell a different story, one of public anger boiling over into a direct assault on the seat of federal power. The collapse of the security perimeter at the National Palace marks one of the most dramatic moments of unrest in Sheinbaum’s short presidency, and with Manzo’s assassination still raw, there is no indication the pressure will ease anytime soon.
h/t to Julio Rosas and his company, MostlyPeaceful, for the footage.
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Comments
I don’t want US troops in Mexico as well.
Mexico is now a Narcostate, time to recall our ambassador.
Sheinbaum is firmly in the pocket of the cartels, so the protestors are right to be angry. It’s funny that we offer US troops there and don’t see outrage from our media or population about it. I guess it’s because Mexico is so close and what happens there has always directly impacted us. But again you don’t hear the same arguments you do with Israel that we won’t spill American blood for “those people. “ Of course Israel never asks for US boots on the ground. But whatever, Mexico has been a completely broken country with no real leadership or accountability for at least my entire life. So what government are we propping up ? How does this really help or fix anything ? This is why so many Mexicans have crossed illegally into the USA.
I assume it’s because we share a… troubled… land border, people are more likely to see this as valid national defense.
“Sheinbaum said the marches had been funded by right-wing politicians who oppose her government.”
Yes, yes, it’s always the eeble Nahtzees.
Strange the left wing never riots like that, isn’t it?
If Trump sent a million or so criminals back to Mexico, then he is directly responsible for the riots. That many violent losers will cause tens of thousands of rapes and murders and mayhem.
What a sick take.
Mexican criminals are Mexico’s problem, no one else’s.
Wow. Go back on your meds.
Better in their home country than here. Maybe if they’d get a grip on their criminals, they wouldn’t have to export them here.
Smokin’ hot take.
What a President Trump is… he can LITERALLY cause riots in Mexico simply by returning Mexican criminals.
That’s EXACTLY what I voted for!
Sure. Much better to leave them in the US where #Resistance Federal judges can cut them loose to murder, rape, and rob US citizens. We need them to commit the crimes American criminals won’t commit, I suppose.
You’re denser than a singularity.
That’s their country for God sakes
So we should let them stay here and commit murders and rape on our people
then you admit that if had they been allowed to stay in america they would be causing the riots in the usa
GREAT MOVE DJT!
maga
“According to Fox News, rioters began dragging officers out of formation, beating them with hammers, chains, and makeshift weapons.”
Perfectly understandable. I always take a hammer with me for self-defense when I attend a peaceful protest.
I don’t think peaceful was on anyone’s mind yesterday, and properly so.
What the crowd said is true, and everybody knows it. A Mexican uprising is the appropriate and moral response.
Except that I get the sinking feeling that many of the rioters want MOAR SOCIALISM. We have seen this before (Seattle and the “Summer of Love”, where Antifa went after the city’s Communist leadership because they were perceived as being too soft).
Not only do they want moar socialism, they want feewr Joos. The rioters have left explicitly antisemitic graffiti on the Supreme Court entrance.
The Cartels are far larger and more powerful than the government and army. Protesting Sheinbaum (nice Hispanic name) for the mess is like protesting the janitor when your soccer team loses.
And what is the ultimate source of the cartels’ wealth and influence?? Anyone have a mirror handy? Our gargantuan appetite for illegal drugs maybe? Prohibition? George Floyd? Satan?
Real shame how people have to live in such a regime.
Schienbaum is an awful president but her Jewishness does not make her non Mexican. Try not being an antisemite. There are many Mexican Jews ; my best friend growing up was one. Is it possible to critique a Jewish politician without questioning their loyalty for G-D sake. Maybe she’s just a horrible person guess what that’s possible for any of us. Jews and non Jews included but that doesn’t mean we all have dual loyalty or aren’t citizens or members of our own country.
SFG likely thinks that every Mexican has brown skin and is semi illiterate. Far from it.
Mexico has a large German population. Mexican beer is German lager. Mariachi music is German inspired.
You want more violence? Stand by and let it occur.
I, for one, do not care if there is more violence in Mexico City. Not in the short term, anyway. It’s possible that Sheinbaum needs a little violence in her life to concentrate her mind. Let her search her soul as to whose violence frightens her more, then she may decide to be on the right side.
The US cannot fight all the divisional battles around the world. If we get our nation fixed, other nations will know they can fix theirs. Yes, I know, the cartels, drug dealers, etc. It would be ugly but our American Revolution was ugly and people no longer know that.
The drug trafficking organizations probably account for larger portion of Mexico’s GDP. There is probably enough silver floating around and most politicians will want to avoid the lead. The drug traffickers have become strong enough to confront the Mexican army and they have military grade weapons -not sold in US Gun Stores and driven into MX. The civilian police at local level do mot have the resources to confront these criminals. Years back US Special Forces went to MX to train “vetted” members of the MX Army. They later became the Zeta Cartel!we may need US military on the border but not in MX. Maybe the MX people are emotionally ready to confront the criminals and corrupt government but they have no firearms to protect themselves from criminals and the army. I am impressed that the police practiced restraint when being attacked with hammers and other blunt objects. If that happened here, i’d expect the police to open fire on the rioters. Looks like Antifa was at work in Mx City riots.
Maybe if Americans stop using drugs
Just a thought
Mexico has always been like that. ALWAYS.
I remember hearing warnings about travel there in the ’80’s. It’s not like the violence and corruption are new.
Why WOULDN’T the right wing oppose her government? Her government seems content to have the cartels wipe out friend and foe alike.
looks peaceful to me
The riots have turned antisemitic.
This is why Trotsky decided not to seize the USSR leadership when he could have. He didn’t need the antisemitic violence that would likely result.