Anti-gang community defense activist Hiplito Mora slain in Mexico

Story by By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press • Yesterday 3:51 PM

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The leader of an armed civilian movement that once drove a drug cartel out of the western Mexico state of Michoacan has been killed, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Tributes quickly rolled in for slain “self defense” leader Hipólito Mora. He 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.

Mora was one of the few fighters to reman in his hometown after the struggle, tending to his lime groves. But Mora complained in recent years that many vigilante forces were later infiltrated by the cartels and that gang violence was worse than ever.

“He was a man who could not be corrupted, a natural leader, an authentic voice,” said Rev. Gregorio López, a Roman Catholic priest who accompanied and participated in the self-defense movement of that time. All the leaders of the movement were in constant danger, and López was known for wearing a flak vest while celebrating Mass.

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