The UK’s ambassador to Mexico was sacked from his post earlier this year after he pointed an assault rifle at a local embassy employee in an incident captured in a video posted on social media.
Jon Benjamin was on an official trip to Durango and Sinaloa, two northern Mexican states with a strong presence of drug cartels, when he picked up a gun in the vehicle he was travelling in and pointed it at a colleague, according to the video and people familiar with the matter.
Foreign officials visiting dangerous parts of Mexico typically travel with armed staff for protection. Benjamin, a career diplomat, was sacked as ambassador soon after the episode in April, the people said.
A video of the incident was published on social media site X this week from an anonymous account, apparently controlled by employees of the embassy angry over mistreatment of local staff. In the five-second clip, the car appears to be stopped and the colleague’s face is blurred out.
“In a context of daily killings in Mexico by drug dealers, he dares to joke,” the anonymous account said.
Benjamin is no longer listed as the ambassador on the UK government website, with the former deputy now the chargé d’affaires. Benjamin, who remained a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office employee after his removal as ambassador, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on LinkedIn and X.
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