Bus drivers from eight lines in the outskirts of Buenos Aires have organized a spontaneous strike after two of their colleagues were arrested late on Wednesday night over their alleged involvement in Monday’s violent attack on provincial security minister Sergio Berni.

Drivers are demanding that their colleagues Jorge Oscar Galiano and Jorge Ezequiel Zerda be released. They are under investigation for resisting authority and causing minor bodily harm. 

“The strike will go on until our colleagues are released and the murderers of our colleague Daniel are identified,” Luis Gómez, a line 620 driver taking part in the strike, told Télam. “Then we’ll see if [Galiano and Zerda] should present themselves or not before the justice for the aggression against Sergio Berni.”

Bus lines 218, 284, 325, 378, 622, 628, 620, and 328 are not circulating because of the strike.

On Monday at dawn Daniel Barrientos, a 620 line driver, was shot dead while driving his bus in the neighborhood of Vernazza in Virrey del Pino, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires City. The events remain under investigation, but passengers who were onboard told press that he was shot by men who boarded the bus to rob passengers right after he started his shift. Barrientos, 65, was only a few days away from retiring.

His murder sparked rage among colleagues, who went out on the streets to demand more security. As Berni approached the protest in the neighborhood of Lomas del Mirador, some demonstrators attacked him with shovels, stones and their fists, fracturing his skull and cheekbone.

Although Berni did not press charges against the drivers, Buenos Aires Province’s Justice and Human Rights minister, Julio Alak, filed a lawsuit against them.  

Late on Wednesday night, police raided some drivers’ homes. Ordered by prosecutor Carlos Rolero Santurián, who is investigating the beating, they led to the detention of Galiano and Zerda. “They arrested him at midnight, they took us by surprise, we had a terrible time,” one of Galiano’s family members told Infobae.

Their detention was ordered by Buenos Aires City Judge Luisa María Escrich. 

Three suspects have been detained so far for the murder of Daniel Barrientos, where investigators found over 14 bullet casings. The third suspect, arrested on Wednesday, is Antonio Fernándo González, 23, accused of having stolen the Fiat car that the murderers of Barrientos used to escape the scene early on Monday morning. 

Axel Gabriel Barone, 19, and Gabriel Alejandro Barone, 24, were both arrested earlier this week, charged with murdering Barrientos to cover up the robbery.  

Sergio Berni, of ruling coalition Frente de Todos, was appointed Buenos Aires Province Security Minister in 2019, when Axel Kicillof became governor of the province. 

He has become popular by voicing support for tough policies on crime. He recently praised Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who declared a state of exception and arrested tens of thousands of suspects, some of whom have died in custody without ever standing trial. 

Berni said in an interview that Bukele’s actions were “music to his ears”, adding that the Salvadoran had “copied what I’ve been thinking of for many years”.