Mourning begins for anti-gang community defense activist slain in Mexico
By EDUARDO VERDUGO
Associated Press
LA RUANA, Mexico (AP) — Family and acquaintances of anti-gang community defense activist Hipólito Mora are gathering at his home to pay their respects after he was found killed not far away from his house. There was no visible presence of National Guard, soldiers or police on Friday. About 15 people sat in chairs before Mora’s flower-covered casket on a patio. Dozens of additional chairs awaited others expected to come pay their respects. Mora was one of the last surviving leaders of Michoacan’s armed vigilante movement, in which farmers and ranchers banded together to expel the Knights Templar cartel from the state between 2013 and 2014.
