Mexico City Mayor’s Aides Assassinated in Daylight Attack

 Mexico City, May 21, 2025 – In a shocking daylight assault, the personal secretary and an adviser to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were gunned down on a busy street in the capital’s Moderna neighbourhood, near the Xola metro station. The attack, which occurred around 7 a.m., claimed the lives of Ximena Guzmán, Brugada’s personal secretary, and José Muñoz, her adviser, in what the mayor described as a “direct attack.”

Security camera footage captured the chilling moment when a man wearing a white top and a motorbike helmet approached Guzmán’s car, where Muñoz was waiting. The assailant suddenly drew a pistol, firing at Muñoz and then Guzmán before fleeing the scene with an accomplice on a motorbike. Initial reports suggest the use of a silencer, as witnesses, including a nearby shoeshiner, reported not hearing the gunshots. “I was right here working when they shot them and I didn’t even realise,” the shoeshiner said, adding, “I’m a little deaf.” A stall owner named José Antonio corroborated the account, noting, “I actually didn’t hear the shots either. I think it must have been with a silencer.”

The attack bore the hallmarks of an organized crime hit, a rarity in Mexico City, though the motive remains under investigation. Authorities are reviewing additional surveillance footage to identify the perpetrators. Two hours after the incident, the crime scene was marked only by broken glass and a pool of blood, with the bodies already removed by police.

Mayor Brugada, visibly shaken, addressed the media in a press conference, dressed in black and speaking in a strained voice. She paid tribute to the victims, saying, “[Guzmán] was a wonderful, tireless, good woman. I’ve known [Muñoz] almost since … He’s one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met, and extremely responsible.” She added, “I want to embrace their families, friends, loved ones and comrades in struggle. We in the city’s cabinet are shocked and mourn the loss of two dear comrades.” Brugada vowed to continue her government’s “relentless fight against insecurity,” promising a thorough investigation.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, an ally of Brugada in the Morena party, condemned the killings during her morning press conference, assuring that “there would not be impunity.” Sheinbaum noted that neither Guzmán nor Muñoz had a security detail and that she was unaware of any prior threats against them. Guzmán, a long-time confidante of Brugada, was reportedly one of her closest aides in government.

The murders mark the most high-profile attack on government officials in Mexico City since the 2020 assassination attempt on then-police chief Omar García Harfuch, who survived an ambush by the Jalisco New Generation cartel. García Harfuch, now the federal security minister, expressed solidarity on X, writing, “We won’t let this cowardly act go unpunished,” and pledged the federal government’s support in the investigation.

Local residents expressed shock at the violence in La Moderna, a typically calm neighbourhood. José Antonio, the stall owner who witnessed the aftermath, remarked, “The killers didn’t try to hide it – they did it at rush hour.” Reflecting on the audacity of the attack, he added, “It’s a calm neighbourhood. They were targeted. I guess for professional killers it doesn’t matter whether there are people around or not. They do it and they get out of there.”

The incident underscores the persistent challenge of organized crime in Mexico, even in the capital, and raises questions about the safety of public officials as the investigation into this brazen attack continues.