Venezuelan influencer murdered during livestream after pointing to links between police and Tren de Aragua

The Venezuelan Public Ministry (Public Prosecutor's Office) announced an investigation into the murder of a Venezuelan influencer during a live broadcast after the victim pointed out links between police and criminal gang Tren de Aragua.

In this regard, the ministry detailed that the prosecutor's office for the 69th jurisdiction that specializes in organized crime was appointed to investigate, identify and punish those responsible for what it described as the "targeted killing of Gabriel Jesús Sarmiento."

"[Sarmiento] had publicly shared the threats he received from members of Structured Groups of Organized Crime and alleged police officers," said the Venezuelan Public Ministry.

Local media outlets, such as newspaper El Nacional, reported that armed men killed the influencer on Sunday night in Maracay, Aragua, while he was streaming live on TikTok.

According to preliminary reports, unknown subjects entered the house where Sarmiento was hiding and attacked him during the live broadcast.

At the time of the attack, Sarmiento was making accusations against criminal gangs such as Tren de Aragua and Tren del Llano, as well as against acts of corruption which allegedly involved police officers.

"We are overrun with criminal officials, who work with common criminals. I have people who belong to the motorized brigade of the Aragua Police and they are commenting, through police groups, that they are organizing to 'f*** me over,' to bury me. These practices have been carried out against me for a while now," claimed the influencer.

"The only thing I want is a better Aragua for everyone. ... I need to make the culprits who are published here [on his TikTok profile] pay. They are freely walking the streets while I am in hiding. That seems absurd to me," added Sarmiento.

In that sense, El Nacional detailed that "Sarmiento was a programmer and cybersecurity analyst. ... So far, no details are known about the motive of the crime or the possible perpetrators."