Early in the morning of 5 June 2009, the Peruvian military police violently attached a group of indigenous people who were peacefully blockading a road outside of Bagua, in northern Peru. Protesters included many women and children. Police dropped tear gas bombs from helicpoters and fired live ammunition from both sides into the crowd, trapping some of the protesters. Reports estimate that the number of people killed is somewhere between 40 and 85, including three children. ENS reports that “As the demonstrators were being killed and injured, some wrestled with police, fighting back in self-defense, which resulted in the reported deaths of the nine police officers.” Peruvian authorities say that 22 police were killed.
