Strong Winds Topple Stage at Campaign Rally in Mexico, Killing at Least 9

People look at a forensic service vehicle at the site after a gust of wind caused a structure to collapse, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, Mexico May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
People look at a forensic service vehicle at the site after a gust of wind caused a structure to collapse, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, Mexico May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
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Strong Winds Topple Stage at Campaign Rally in Mexico, Killing at Least 9

People look at a forensic service vehicle at the site after a gust of wind caused a structure to collapse, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, Mexico May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
People look at a forensic service vehicle at the site after a gust of wind caused a structure to collapse, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, Mexico May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

 A strong gust of wind toppled the stage at a campaign rally Wednesday evening in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, killing at least nine people — including a child — and injuring 63, the state's governor said.
The collapse occurred during an event attended by presidential long-shot candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez, who ran to escape. Videos of the collapse on social media showed people screaming, running away and climbing out from under metal polls, The Associated Press reported.
The victims “will not be alone in this tragedy,” Máynez told reporters Wednesday night, adding that he had suspended upcoming campaign events.
Afterward, soldiers, police and other officials roamed the grounds of the park where the event took place while many nearby sat stunned and haunted by the tragedy.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he “sends a hug to family members, friends of the victims and political supporters.” Condolences poured in from across Mexico, including by other presidential candidates.
In a video message, Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel Garcia, a leading member of Máynez’s Citizens Movement party, asked residents to shelter in their houses for the next two hours.
Máynez wrote in his social media accounts that he went to a hospital after the accident in the wealthy suburb of San Pedro Garza Garcia, near the city of Monterrey. He said he was in good condition.
“The only important thing at this point is to care for the victims of the accident,” he wrote.
Videos of the accident showed Máynez waving his arm as the crowd chanted his name. But then he looked up to see a giant screen and metal structure toppling toward him. He ran rapidly toward the back of the stage to avoid the falling structure, which appeared to consist of relatively light framework pieces as well as what appeared to be a screen with the party’s logo and theater-style lights.
Máynez has been running third in polls in the presidential race, trailing both front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling Morena Party and opposition coalition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez. Both sent their condolences, and Sheinbaum canceled a campaign event in nearby Monterrey the next day “in solidarity” with victims and their loved ones.
“My condolences and prayers with the families of the dead, and my wishes for a speedy recovery to all those injured,” wrote Gálvez in a social media post.
The accident happened at the height of campaign season, with many events held this week and next in anticipation of the June 2 presidential, state and municipal elections.

Campaign events are being held this week and next in anticipation of the June 2 presidential, state and municipal elections.



Hollywood Stars Help Biden Raise $28 Million during Fundraiser

US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Hollywood Stars Help Biden Raise $28 Million during Fundraiser

US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Some of Hollywood's brightest stars headlined a glitzy fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Saturday night, helping raise what his reelection campaign said was $28 million and hoping to energize would-be supporters ahead of a November election that they argued repeatedly was among the most important in the nation's history.
George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage at the 7,100-seat Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, The Associated Press reported. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former President Barack Obama, who both stressed the need to defeat former President Donald Trump in a race that's expected to be exceedingly close.
During more than half an hour of discussion, Kimmel asked if the country was suffering from amnesia about the presumptive Republican nominee, to which Biden responded, “all we gotta do is remember what it was like" when Trump was in the White House.
Luminaries from the entertainment world have increasingly lined up to help Biden’s campaign, and just how important the event was to his reelection bid could be seen in the president flying through the night across nine time zones, from the G7 summit in southern Italy to Southern California, to attend.
He also missed a summit in Switzerland about ways to end Russia's war in Ukraine, instead dispatching Vice President Kamala Harris who made her own whirlwind trip of her own to represent the United States there — a stark reminder of the delicate balance between geopolitics and his bid to win a second term.
Further laying bare the political implications were police in riot gear outside the theater Saturday night, ready for protests from pro-Palestinian activists angry about his administration’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The event featured singing by Jack Black and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and actors Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman introduced Kimmel at the start of the interview with Biden and Obama. The comedian deadpanned, “I was told I was getting introduced by Batman, not Bateman.”
But he quickly pivoted to far more serious topics, saying that “so much is at stake in this election” and listing off women’s rights, health care and noting that “even the ballot is on the ballot” in a reference to the Biden administration's calls to expand voting rights.
Kimmel asked the president what he was most proud of accomplishing, and Biden said he thought the administration’s approach to the economy “is working.”
“We have the strongest economy in the world today,” Biden said, adding “we try to give ordinary people an even chance.”
Trump spent Saturday campaigning in Detroit and criticized Biden for weakening the economy and stoking inflation. The president was fundraising "with out-of-touch elitist Hollywood celebrities,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
But Biden told the crowd in California that “we passed every major piece of legislation we attempted to get done." And Obama expressed admiration for sweeping legislation on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing, gun safety and other major initiatives that the administration of his former vice president has overseen.
“What we’re seeing now is a byproduct of in 2016. There were a whole bunch of folks who, for whatever reason, sat out," said Obama, who, like Biden wore a dark suit with a white shirt with an open collar.
Obama added that "hopefully we have learned our lesson, because these elections matter in very concrete ways.”
When the conversation turned to three Supreme Court justices who Trump nominated and who helped overturn Roe v. Wade — the landmark decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to an abortion — the crowd expressed its displeasure to which Obama responded, “don't hiss, vote.” That was a play on his common refrain prioritizing voting over booing.
Biden said that if he were to win four more years in the White House he may get the chance to nominate two new justices — though even that probably wouldn't drastically overhaul a court that current features a 6-3 conservative majority.
He also suggested that if Trump wins back the White House, “one of the scariest parts" was the Supreme Court and how there has “never been a court that’s so far out of step.”
Biden also referenced reports that an upside-down flag, a symbol associated with Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021. He worried Saturday that, if Trump is reelected, “He’s going to appoint two more who fly their flags upside down.”
Biden's campaign said it was still counting, but that Saturday night's gathering had taken in at least $28 million — more money than any event for a Democratic candidate in history.
That meant outpacing the president's fundraiser in March at Radio City Music Hall in New York, which featured late-night host Stephen Colbert interviewing Biden, Obama and former President Bill Clinton, which raised $26 million.
Biden held an early lead in the campaign money race against Trump, but the former president has gained ground in recent months, after formally locking up the Republican nomination.
Trump outpaced Biden's New York event in April, raking in $50.5 million at a gathering of major donors at the Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson. The former president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced they had raised a whopping $141 million in May, padded by tens of millions of dollars in contributions that flowed in after Trump's guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial.
That post-conviction bump came after Trump and the Republican Party announced collecting $76 million in April, far exceeding Biden and the Democrats’ $51 million for the month.