Tony Quishpe was attacked by unidentified individuals during a police operation carried out in the coastal city of Guayaquil.
(Fundamedios/IFEX) – On 21 June 2011, Tony Quishpe, a camera operator for the Teleamazonas television station, was attacked by unidentified individuals during a police anti-drug operation carried out in the suburbs of the coastal city of Guayaquil.
Quishpe said that after the anti-drug operation ended in an area where a drug dealer was to be captured, a crowd of people from the area turned violent in reaction to the police presence and began attacking him with sticks and stones.
The Teleamazonas camera operator, who was the last to leave in a car, said he tried to escape but was prevented from doing so by the angry crowd, which broke the car windows in an attempt to seize his camera.
“When we got into the car, the people were showering us with stones. They wanted to take me out of the car and one of them managed to climb in and hit me with a stick. I covered myself to prevent the stones from hitting my head,” said Quishpe.
The camera operator noted that the crowd was unsuccessful in its attempt to seize his camera because the police returned and took control of the situation, dispersing the crowd. Quishpe was taken by ambulance to the social security hospital due to the multiple blows and bruising he had suffered. He was discharged a few hours later.
