Alejandro Patrón

Surveillance

Alejandro Patrón was selected for surveillance with the Pegasus spyware in 2016. Forbidden Stories was unable to analyze the phone to confirm the infection.

Who is he?

Alejandron Patrón is a Mexican journalist covering local news in the Baja California region, mostly on his Facebook page entitled “El Reportero Urban” (The Urban Reporter) which is followed by 50,000 people.

In 2016, Patrón was reporting on murders committed in the region, reporting on a different fatality each day, sometimes several in a single day. His reporting brought him online threats. He received messages demanding that he removed his videos from his Facebook page. Patrón obliged, fearing for his own life.

In October 2017, his nephew was kidnapped and killed. He did not dare investigate the murder nor the potential link to his reporting. Several months later, his Facebook page, followed at that point by 280 000 people, was deleted.

Today, Patrón publishes videos on a new Facebook page. He is forced to wear a bulletproof vest when he goes out to report.

His work

Response

Mexican authorities did not answer Forbidden Stories’ questions on the surveillance of journalists. NSO Group did not answer Forbidden Stories’ questions on specific targets but said it “will continue to investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action based on the results of these investigations.”