INBA personnel denounces grenadier attack

Staff from the Palace of Bellas Artes complained that grenadiers attacked them and even came to blows inside the palatial building in Mexico City.

The National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) workers estimated that between six and ten of their colleagues were hurt and four more were arrested. Hugo Gonzalez, from the Carpentry Department, said that approximately 30 grenadiers from the Department of Public Security of Mexico City entered Bellas Artes at 9:30 hours, chasing the employees some 10 minutes and then exiting the building "when there was nobody else to hit."

According to the staff, it all started when a young man on a bike trespassed the barricade held by the grenadiers around the building for the last few days.

"They pushed him, the boy fell to the ground and they began to hit him, just because. I went out to tell them to leave him alone, that he wasn't doing anything wrong. Some colleagues recorded the incident with their phones and they began to chase us ... They went crazy," expressed González.

"They had no reason to attack us, we don't know why they did it," said another worker to EL UNIVERSAL about the grenadiers, who entered the Palacio through the gate commonly used by performers.

The workers indicated that they will present a formal complaint before the authorities, while the legal department of the INBA will determine the legal situation of the detainees.

The grenadiers are guarding the area due to the continued influx of protesters and marches of the last several days.