Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article Print Reporting from Acatlan de Osorio Mexico — Ricardo Flores’ goal was to study hard become a lawyer and earn enough so that his parents could return from the United States — the destination of multitudes from this impoverished corner of south-central Mexico “Ricardo always said that once he was working because he missed her so much,” recalled his younger brother That dream came to a violent end one afternoon last month after rumors began circulating on social media and the WhatsApp messaging service that a pair of robachicos beating them before dousing them with gasoline and burning them alive on the street outside the police station here The pair had been mistakenly suspected of child abduction “It was like a great spell had overtaken the people,” said Lidia Palacios a handicrafts shopkeeper who witnessed the linchamiento The barbaric episode — reminiscent of mob killings in India fueled by viral messages — illustrates how in an era of proliferating smartphone use rumors looped on social media and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp can generate hysteria and vigilante justice ineffective policing and a pervasive sense that lawbreakers go unpunished fuel citizen outrage Cellphone video of townsfolk pummeling cornered suspects accused of robberies and other misdeeds is a regular feature on TV news handwritten billboards warn “delinquents” and “rats” that they will face street justice At least 25 people have been slain by mobs in Mexico this year including victims beaten to death and burned according to Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission Law enforcement officials fear that hoaxes spread on Facebook WhatsApp and other platforms may be exacerbating the disturbing trend In the days before Flores and his uncle were targeted half a dozen Mexican states issued public warnings refuting incendiary social media tales of kidnapping rings that remove organs from captive children to sell on the black market teachers and others that a “plague of robachicos” had snatched an unspecified number of children “We cannot permit [that] this keeps happening please pay attention,” the sham message advised This mountainous swath of Mexico’s Puebla state is heavily dependent on dollars wired from townsfolk who have immigrated to the United States The remittances supplement meager incomes from planting corn Many inhabitants are of indigenous Mixtec origins; villagers tend to be wary of police and outsiders as well as the schooling of his younger brother the Flores family endured separation so that the children would have opportunities Flores and his uncle drove in Morales’ black Ford SUV from their hamlet to the nearby village of San Vicente Boqueron The uncle planned to buy material for a fence he was building at his mother’s home nearby They parked near a school and had a few beers Their timing couldn’t have been worse — rumors were swirling across the internet that two robachicos The presence of the two strangers aroused the suspicions of villagers who approached and accused the men of being kidnappers Witnesses said Flores and his uncle were dragged from the car el pueblo will defend itself against delinquents,” said Maria Lopez signaling an emergency and attracting more villagers they drove Flores and his uncle from San Vicente Boqueron to Acatlan de Osorio An irate crowd — perhaps as many as 100 people according to witnesses and video footage — gathered outside where the two were being held They must face justice!’ ” recalled Palacios “Then suddenly they entered [the police station] and took out the two men “I can’t imagine the pain that they felt,” said Hortensia Santos who watched from her clothing shop as the two writhed in agony “The fire would go out and they would pour on more gasoline I haven’t been able to sleep; I can’t forget the image I don’t know how people can be so ruthless.” The villagers also torched the uncle’s vehicle they’re innocent,’” said Juana Ramirez Flores Law enforcement failed to “follow protocols” such as negotiating with the crowd and immediately seeking backup the secretary of public safety of the state of Puebla said in a statement Two suspects in the attack have been arrested; one later died in custody of natural causes State authorities said they were reviewing video of the incident to track down other participants They also launched an investigation to determine who was responsible for the cyber hoax that sparked the incident Officials at WhatsApp and Facebook declined to comment on the attack But the companies — Facebook owns WhatsApp — did say that both were taking measures to cut down on the rising tide of false information “WhatsApp cares deeply about the safety of our users,” the messaging service said in a statement “We believe the challenge of this horrible mob violence requires action from leaders across society after viral reports about child kidnappers sparked a series of lynchings in India WhatsApp took out full-page advertisements in Indian newspapers — along with radio spots and internet ads — providing “easy tips” to spot spurious assertions Spanish-language effort is planned for later this year in Mexico But recent attacks in Mexico suggest that such steps — and even formal warnings from local law enforcement — may not be sufficient to calm residents vigilante justice struck in Mexico’s central Hidalgo state where authorities had just sent out a Twitter message alerting the public of the child-kidnapper hoax A mob pulled a man and a woman from their truck in a rural area and beat and burned them Just as social media and smartphone apps helped spread rumors of child kidnappers these same platforms disseminated word of the fate of the lynching victims Video of the grisly scene in Acatlan de Osorio — and photos of the two charred bodies — soon reached cellphone users in the United States A distraught Rosario Rodriguez said she viewed the carnage on her phone and read Facebook commentaries about the assaults on her son and brother-in-law She and her husband flew to Mexico the next day She says she will remain until “justice” is rendered never happens to those who did this to my son,” said a sobbing Rodriguez “That they never feel the impotence of a mother who sees her son killed in such a heartless manner.” Times staff writer McDonnell reported from Mexico City special correspondent Sanchez from Acatlan de Osorio patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com Twitter: @PmcdonnellLAT Foreign correspondent Patrick J. McDonnell is the Los Angeles Times Mexico City bureau chief and previously headed Times bureaus in Beirut, Buenos Aires and Baghdad. A native of the Bronx, McDonnell is a graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard. World & Nation Hollywood Inc. Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map