Protests against police brutality continued on Thursday in Colombia’s capital city Bogota after the killing of law student Javier Ordonez. A friend filmed Ordonez’s interaction with the police. The footage showed authorities shocking Ordonez with a stun gun multiple times. He was taken to a police station in Villa Luz and later died in the hospital.
Since protests started on Wednesday, at least nine people have died. According to the Mayor of Bogota’s office, gun use has been responsible for at least 60 injuries. Mayor Claudia Lopez asked people to make their way home by nightfall on Wednesday, but protests continued through the evening. Protesters vandalized the police station and police responded with projectiles like tear gas and flash-bang grenades.
The Colombian government has said that two police officers suspected of shocking Ordonez have been suspended.
Bogotan police have been accused of abusing and arbitrarily detaining protesters in the past. In November police killed 17-year-old Dilan Cruz by shooting projectiles at a group of protesters.
