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“Samuel Rodríguez”
Samuel Rodríguez (pseudonym), 24, a student, participated in a protest in the afternoon of May 1, in Parque de las Luces, Medellín, Antioquia state. Several protesters were throwing rocks at police, who responded with teargas, Rodríguez said. He was nearly 200 meters from the scene of the violence when, at around 4 p.m., a motorcycle rammed him. The officers on the motorcycle hit him with truncheons and fists, kicked him, and grabbed him by the neck, he said. Rodríguez could not breathe, he said. Police dragged him a few meters away, where more officers joined in the beating. An officer said they were going to detain him, but Rodríguez got away, bleeding heavily. Human Rights Watch corroborated a video that shows him, injured and bleeding, walking in a street in Medellín minutes later.