Chilean police arrested two suspects on Monday for their alleged involvement in the murder of Carabineros agent Daniel Palma Yáñez, who was shot dead last week during an inspection in Santiago. The Prosecutor’s Office announced on social networks the arrest of the two suspects and shared the image of a third suspect of interest for the investigation.
President Gabriel Boric attended the funeral of Palma, who was the third policeman killed in less than a month. This prompted the president to announce new security measures and to enact the Nain-Retamal law, approved by Congress, also known as “trigger-happy.” The law grants greater powers to agents and stiffens penalties against those who assault them. Named after Lance Corporal Eugenio Nain and Warrant Officer Carlos Retamal, who were killed while carrying out operations, the law has been controversial because one of its articles establishes the figure of “privileged self-defense,” allowing police officers to have a presumption of justified use of their service weapon if they act in self-defense, in defense of third parties, or to prevent a crime.
The recent police killings have generated great concern in Chile and have led to a strong reaction from the government and security forces. In addition, the arrest of the two suspects in connection with Palma’s murder is an important step in seeking justice and preventing future violations of the law.