Thousands of protesters swarmed Mexico City on Saturday, attacking police officers and trying to breach a security barrier around the National Palace, which houses the executive branch of the federal government.
Plumes of tear gas filled the street as hooded protesters dragged riot police out of formation, beating them with hammers and chains and throwing explosives at them while stripping them of their shields and communications radios.
Mexico City’s Secretariat of Citizen Security announced on social media that at least 60 police officers had suffered minor injuries and 40 officers had been taken to hospitals.
Of the 40 officers hospitalized, 36 had bruises, cuts and minor injuries, and four are receiving specialized care for trauma and other injuries that are not life-threatening.
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At least twenty people were detained on Saturday evening and twenty others were referred for administrative violations.
Protesters attack police during a youth march against the government in Mexico City on Saturday, November 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
The anti-government march, which turned violent in Zocalo Square, was organized by members of Gen Z born between the late 1990s and early 2010s.
Protesters told The Associated press they took action against corruption and security problems.
The Secretariat of Citizen Security noted that Mexico City police only carried out containment work and did not suppress protesters or respond to the provocations.
Protesters attack police during an anti-government youth march in Mexico City on Saturday, November 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Arizbeth Garcia, a 43-year-old doctor, told the newspaper she was marching for greater safety and additional funding for the public health system.
“[Doctors] are also exposed to the insecurity that grips the country, where you can be killed and nothing happens,” Garcia said.
Another protester, Rosa Maria Avila, 65, from Pátzcuaro in Michoacán, told the newspaper she was marching in support of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, an anti-crime activist who was killed at a public event in Michoacán earlier this month.
“The state is dying,” Avila said. ‘He was killed because he was a man who sent officers into the mountains to fight delinquents. He had the nerve to confront them.”
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Manzo was shot seven times after condemning Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for her alleged lack of efforts in the fight against cartels.
“We need more determination from the president of Mexico,” Manzo told local media in September. “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those who have been executed and whose lives have been taken. … I am very scared, but I have to face it with courage.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office as Mexico’s first female president in October 2024, recently came under fire following a series of high-profile assassinations.
Protesters raise a fence during a rally against the government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Zocalo Square in Mexico City, November 15, 2025. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)
Critics accuse her of tolerating organized crime and not supporting antitrust efforts.
In May, Sheinbaum publicly confirmed that she had rejected US military aid from President Donald Trump, who wanted to help the country fight drug trafficking and violent cartels.
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She reportedly told Trump that the country will “never accept” the presence of the US military on its territory.
“No, President Trump, our territory is inalienable, sovereignty is inalienable,” Sheinbaum previously said. “We can work together. We can work together, but with you on your territory and us on ours. We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the US military on our territory.”
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The Heritage Foundation, a top conservative group, argued that Mexico was unlikely to change its position when Sheinbaum was elected, despite the escalating threat from cartels.
