Rapper Eduardo Ruiz Sáenz, first victim of the repression of the interim Government of Peru

The shot rang out at the edge of midnight around Plaza Francia, in the center of Lima. The body collapsed on the sidewalk. There were those who fled in terror, others ran in the direction from which the shot came, but the majority helped Eduardo Mauricio Ruiz Sáenz, the fatal victim of While the protesters tried to press the hole in his chest, a man in a long-sleeved shirt appeared on the scene almost immediately, jeans and white sneakers. He was carrying a gun. As recorded in the home videos released, he shot into the air, approached the wounded man, said a couple of things and then left at a fast pace.

Minutes later, Ruiz Sáenz was put on a motorcycle and rushed to the Arzobispo Loayza Hospital, where he arrived dead. The victim was a well-known rapper on the scene. He was 32 years old, they called him Trvko, and he was from San Martín de Porres, a district located north of the capital. He leaves an orphaned son and a deep wound in the citizenry. This is one more person who loses his life for exercising his right to march against the Government.

According to those who were in the area, the protesters noticed the presence of a group of infiltrated police officers. When they were discovered, they fled. One of them, according to those stories, pulled the trigger. “There were three [una terna]. Two men and one woman. One of them fell while escaping. He turned and shot just to shoot. And not even that bullet hit the young people who were following him, but rather another who was behind,” said a witness.

The Operational Tactical Intelligence Unit is widely known as the Terna Group, because its agents usually walk the street in teams of three. They are trained to blend in with the aim of dismantling mafias. But for several years they have also been used in mobilizations with the supposed task of identifying potential criminals, although social groups have denounced on many occasions that in reality they only seek to delegitimize the protest, abusing violence under the guise of civilians.

has been part of the operation to control the march. “We regret that there was an incident of death. We have accompanied all the protesters to exercise their right to peaceful protest, but you have seen how they have attacked us. At no time have the Terna been included, or accompanied,” said Tiburcio, with barely one day in office. It was only on Tuesday that José Jerí named his Cabinet.

Highly questioned senior officials, such as the Prime Minister, Ernesto Álvarez Miranda, who just a few weeks ago criminalized the marches and compared them to the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). To avoid more lynchings, Álvarez – accused of rape a decade ago – closed his account on the social network X.

President José Jerí – another accused of sexual violation – did speak on X during the early hours of the morning. “Strength his family at this moment. Let the investigations objectively determine the facts and responsibilities,” he said briefly. At the beginning of the fatal day, Jerí flew over Lima in a helicopter alongside Prime Minister Tiburcio; the mayor of Lima, Renzo Reggiardo; and Óscar Arriola, the chief of Police. Reggiardo – who also has hours in the municipal seat after the resignation of Rafael López Aliaga – will be key to clarifying the murder. Social groups indicate that there are several security cameras in the area.

Arriola, meanwhile, had lazy words on the eve of the protest. “We see the real intentions of destabilization. They are looking for a harmful result. They are looking for an Inti and a Bryan,” he said. Five years ago, in November 2020, two young men died while marching. Inti Sotelo’s chest was pierced, right at the level of his heart, and Bryan Pintado was hit with ten pellets at such a short distance that they caused lethal bleeding.

The next day, de Lama resigned with just five days in power. They had vacated and Merino assumed office as president of Congress. He acceded to a seat being one of the parliamentarians with the least votes. He is a carbon copy of Jerí, who did not even gather the necessary votes to obtain a place in the Chamber and today presides over the country. On the networks they demand his immediate resignation. And there is a second victim who is fighting for his life. Luis Reyes Rodríguez, 28, had his head opened by a tear gas bomb and has been put into a coma due to the severity of his injuries. The Ombudsman’s Office has estimated more than one hundred injuries among protesters, journalists and police.

The bullet casing that killed Eduardo Ruiz Sáenz was kept by the protesters to have evidence. Just an hour and a half before dying, the rapper shared a message to the Police on his Instagram: “Just as they shot us, they must have attacked those black executioners.”

Police confirmed that the shooter was an intelligence agent

Initially, Jerí and the Minister of the Interior, Vicente Tiburcio, denied that the author of Ruiz Sáenz’s murder was a law enforcement agent. But this Thursday afternoon, Óscar Arriola, the Chief of Police confirmed the suspicions: “The author of that shot is the third-rate non-commissioned officer Luis Magallanes, belonging to the Criminal Investigation Directorate, not the Terna group, and who was involved in verification acts in the vicinity of Abancay Avenue. I apologize to the family,” he said.

Arriola also indicated that non-commissioned officer Luis Magallanes will be tried in civil jurisdiction. And that his crime is an “isolated incident.” He reported that both he and the second agent who shot into the air are detained. “We have decided to remove the generals with direct influence on the orders of the operation from their positions,” he added. Citizens have organized a vigil tonight for rapper Ruiz Sáenz in the place where he was murdered. Jerí, for his part, has stressed that resigning is not in his plans.