Oxkutzcab, Yucatan — Protestors set fire to the city hall after a prisoner hanged himself in a municipal jail.
Dozens of people rioted late Wednesday in the municipal palace and at the home of Oxkutzcab Mayor Raúl Romero Chel for the suspicious death of Genaro Vazquez Ruelas, who died that morning in his cell.
Protests began around 9 p.m. and lasted until state police took control of the situation around midnight. The ransacked city offices and broke windows. Smaller fires were set in the streets.
Vazquez Ruelas had been charged with creating a public disturbance. Police said the young man was drunk and wielding a baseball bat..
Because of his alleged threatening behavior, the man was put in solitary confinement, reports Diario de Yucatan.
The mayor promised an open and transparent investigation.
Personnel from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Attorney General’s Office transferred the prisoner’s remains to Mérida and carry out legal proceedings.