Mexican journalist murdered at son's Christmas pageant

The founder of a news website was shot and killed Friday while attending his son's Christmas pageant in Mexico's Veracruz state, becoming the 12th journalist murdered in Mexico in 2017.

Witnesses told local media two gunmen stormed into the building and shot and killed Gumaro Pérez Aguilando in front of a large group of children. Pérez Aguilando wrote about police activity in Acayucan, a violent city inside a state known for drug cartels and organized crime, The Guardian reports. Since August, three journalists have been killed in Acayucan, including one who had reportedly been threatened by a local mayor and was in a government protection program.

Authorities have promised to do more to protect journalists, but "it continues being the same nightmare," Miguel Angel Diaz, founder of the Plumas Libres news site, told The Guardian. "Nothing and no one protects us. Criminals have permission to do as they want."

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