Cartel Killing Continues: Mormon Families Murdered In Mexico
There’s more news from the ongoing Mexican Drug War. This time three women and six children (including two infants) were tragically killed in northern Mexico on November 5, 2019.
All of the victims were dual citizens of the U.S. and Mexico and members of a longstanding Mormon community in Sonora, Mexico.
And this comes on the heels of the disastrous incident less than 3 weeks ago, where narcos forced the government to surrender to them after a brazen attack on the city of Culiacan.
American Mormons have been living in northern Mexico for hundreds of years
Since the 19th century in fact.
After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) outlawed polygamy due to U.S. laws, many Mormons that felt polygamy was an important part of their faith decided to move to Mexico.
They went there to escape religious persecution and to practice their religion in isolation.
At that time, the borders between Mexico and the United States were porous and in flux. Mormon leader Brigham Young chose to settle the church in Utah in part because the territory at the time was part of Mexico and had little oversight from the government.
In 1848, Mexico ceded this territory to the United States; Utah became a state in 1896. Generations later, U.S.-Mexico border towns remain home to communities of fundamentalist Mormons. Many Mormons living in Mexico speak both English and Spanish and hold dual citizenship.
So there have been communities of American Mormons living in Mexico for generations.
The attack left 9 dead and 7 wounded
They were traveling in three vehicles, driving in a caravan for safety.
Each mother was driving a vehicle when all of a sudden they started receiving gunfire. They were ambushed by a storm of bullets.
The seven-month-old baby Faith Marie Johnson survived hours without food and water in a bullet-ridden SUV in northern Mexico until her family members arrived. She had miraculously escaped the bullets flying around her. Her mother was among the three women and six children killed on Monday when gunmen ambushed their cars after they left a nearby Mormon community. Five other children survived being shot in the back, jaw, leg, wrist and chest.
The surviving children were able to escape by hiding in the bushes while one of them went to look for help, and eventually, they were found by search parties.
A relative of one of the mothers who was killed in the attack gave an interview to Anderson Cooper on CNN.
She’s also a U.S.-Mexico dual citizen living in Sonora, Mexico and she said she believes the cause of the attack is due to war between the Chihuahua and Sonora cartels.
Cartels often fight over territory for the most lucrative drug smuggling routes.
She stated the cartels and their sicarios(hitmen) are everywhere and keep an eye on who goes in and goes out of different areas they control.
The Mexican people are oppressed. They’re being abused by these cartels, living in fear for their lives. We can’t drive public roads safely, we’re being threatened that we can’t even take some public roads or else we’ll have bad things happen to us.
- Kendra Lee Miller, sister in law of one of the victims
America is paying attention
Unlike a lot of cartel violence in Mexico, this attack has been heavily publicized because these were U.S. citizens that were killed.
Trump even tweeted about the attack and wants Mexican President Lopez Obrador to invite the United States to help them fight the cartels.
However, a true discussion about American involvement in the Mexican Drug War has got to include not only American drug consumption and drug policy, but also the weapons that the cartels are smuggling into Mexico from the United States.
With Mexico’s yearly murder rate rising to historic levels, the situation in Mexico continues to escalate.
Women and children are being slaughtered with no justice being served, and the cartels are killing with impunity.
Do you think the US government should get involved with fighting the cartels in Mexico? Please share your thoughts by commenting below.