Argentine Military Police closed its internal investigation into the officer that severely injured photojournalist Pablo Grillo during a pensioners protest on March 12 with no disciplinary sanctions. The final report found that the incident that left Grillo with brain damage after the officer hit him in the head with a tear gas canister was due to “random circumstances.”

The news was reported by the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS, by its Spanish initials), one of the plaintiffs in the criminal case investigating the incident. According to the human rights watchdog, the administrative report on the performance of corporal Héctor Guerrero was filed “without a serious investigation.”

“This means that corporal Guerrero remains in his position.”

As part of the judicial investigation on the nearly-fatal shooting, Federal Judge María Servini ordered to sweep military police offices and seize the administrative file to corroborate if disciplinary action was taken.

The military police report blamed the shooting on “random” circumstances such as bad visibility, as well as the victim standing “in the shooting line.” CELS also pointed out that the report was opened on March 17 and completed two days later, and although some information was added during April and May, “the conclusions were not altered.”

“The goal of the report was not to seriously investigate if there were abuses or identifying concrete responsibilities, particularly Guerrero’s, but to prevent inconvenients and […] and guarantee impunity,” said a document by CELS and the Argentine League for Human Rights, an another human rights organization that is also one of the plaintiffs.

The march and Pablo Grillo’s injury

On March 12, Grillo was covering a protest pensioners carry out every Wednesday as a freelance photojournalist. He was taking pictures of a burning structure on one of the streets adjacent to Congress when a tear gas hit his head, causing him severe skull fractures and loss of brain mass. 

Thanks to footage provided by other photographers and protesters present at the time, the officer was identified as corporal Guerrero in an independent report by the Mapa de la Policía organization, an NGO that carries out actions against police violence.

The CELS said within the evidence provided by the Military Police is a user manual for the gas can launcher gun Guerrero employed. The NGO added that, according to the instructions, the horizontal angle in which the officer pointed the weapon is “banned because it could cause severe injuries or even death.”

Grillo survived following two surgeries in the Ramos Mejías public hospital. He woke up from coma 8 days later and remained in intensive care for almost three months undergoing more procedures to assess his brain and skull injuries. He was discharged from intensive care on June 3 and transferred to Rocca Hospital to undergo rehab, where he remains. Despite having sequels, Grillo has had considerable improvements and can speak, move, and walk slowly.