NYC Journalist Slain in Oaxaca Mourned

New York journalist, Bradley Roland Will, is seen at a party in this photo taken by Dyan Neary, 25, of Hawaii, an ex-girlfriend and close friend in Aug. 2006 in Brooklyn, New York. Will a journalist who documented upheaval throughout Latin America was killed along with two Mexican men in a shootout in the historic city of Oaxaca Friday Oct. 27, 2006, where leftist protesters have been trying for five months to oust the governor. Several other people were injured. "It appears that Mr. Will was killed during a shoot out between what may have been local police," and protesters, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said in a written statement. Protesters have taken over the historic city since June, building barricades, driving out police and burning buses. The protesters accuse the governor of rigging the 2004 election to win office and using violence against his opponents. (AP Photo/Dyan Neary) (AP)

Beka Economopoulos, a New York activist and friend, said Will's death would leave a void in places where journalists are needed.

"The community here will miss him," she said. "Not only because he was a beautiful person, but because the work he was doing was so important. He was passionate about documenting the ills of the world."

Will had been documenting the upheaval in Oaxaca in Internet dispatches for nearly a month. His reports showed he had strong sympathies with the movement.

"What can you say about this movement, this revolutionary moment," he wrote in a dispatch dated Oct. 16. "You know it is building, growing, shaping, you can feel it, trying desperately for a direct democracy."

Fellow documentarian Josh Bregman, who recently returned from Oaxaca, said he felt safe within the barricades among the citizens, but not when police were looming.

"The people that I was with thought my camera would keep them safe," Bregman said. "They didn't think anyone would shoot gringo journalists."

Friends described Will as tall and lanky with long brown hair, glasses and a scruffy beard. He loved folk music, played the guitar and had a huge heart.

"He was a warm, gentle person, who lit up the room with his songs and his cheer," said Brandon Jourdan, a former roommate.

___

Associated Press writer Rebeca Romero contributed to this report from Oaxaca, Mexico.

___

On The Net:

http://www.indymedia.org