Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was assaulted on Wednesday when a man attempted to grope and kiss her during a public walk through Mexico City’s historic centre, according to authorities and local media reports.
Video footage circulating online shows the man approaching the president from the side, placing his arm around her, and attempting to kiss her. He then appears to reach for her breasts before being quickly restrained by security personnel. The suspect was arrested on the spot and has since been charged with sexual harassment and sexual abuse, El Universal reported.
The incident has sparked widespread outrage and raised concerns about presidential security, as the man appeared to reach the president without much obstruction. Like her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President Sheinbaum has refused to use the military unit typically assigned to protect the president, preferring instead to maintain close contact with citizens.
Reacting to the attack, Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada condemned the assault on social media platform X, writing:
“If they touch the president, they touch all of us. Today, when the president is harassed just for being a woman, we are all harassed.”
Sheinbaum, 63, made history earlier this year as Mexico’s first female president. The incident underscores the challenges facing women in Mexico, where, according to the National Statistics Institute, nearly half of all women have experienced sexual violence at least once.
President Sheinbaum has made women’s rights and gender equality central to her administration’s agenda, vowing to tackle violence against women and strengthen protections for victims across the country.
