Venezuelan influencer who criticized gangs and police shot dead during TikTok livestream
A Venezuelan influencer who criticized both gangs and allegedly corrupt cops was shot and killed on Monday while livestreaming on TikTok, authorities said.
Venezuela's Ministry of Public Safety said in a statement on Instagram that influencer Gabriel Jesús Sarmiento died in the city of Maracay.
Sarmiento often criticized criminal groups and alleged corruption in law enforcement through his content online, and the ministry added that his death came shortly after he reported 'threats made against him by members of the GEDOs (Organized Crime Structured Groups, in Spanish) and alleged police officials.'
Maracay is the capital of Aragua, the region from which the notorious Tren de Aragua gang takes its name, though there is no known connection between the TikToker's death and the criminal group.
CNN has reached out to police in Aragua for comment.
The ministry also said it assigned the 69th Prosecutor's Office Against Organized Crime to 'investigate, identify, and prosecute' those responsible for Sarmiento's death.
In a recording of Sarmiento's livestream viewed by CNN, a woman can be heard screaming offscreen, while a man asks her why she is yelling.
'What happened, what happened?' shouts the man in the recording, followed by a heavy burst of gunfire.
'They shot me!' the man then screams. The video ends with the image of two unidentified armed men. Seconds later, the livestream stops and the video ends.
Sarmiento's death comes just over a month after another Latin American influencer was killed while livestreaming. Mexican beauty influencer Valeria Marquez was shot and killed in a salon in Jalisco in May, sparking outrage over high rates of femicide in the region.
Just days before Marquez's death, another woman – a mayoral candidate in the state of Veracruz – was shot dead, also during a livestream, alongside three other people.
CNN is making efforts to contact Sarmiento's family, as well as Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab, for further information.
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