Thousands of people have rallied across Mexico, protesting against growing crime, corruption and impunity, which, though organised by members of Generation Z, ended up being mostly backed and attended by older supporters of opposition parties.

The marches on Saturday were attended by people from several age groups, with supporters of the slain Michoacan Mayor Carlos Manzo attending the protest wearing the straw hats that symbolise his political movement.

In Mexico City, a small group of hooded protesters tore down fences around the National Palace where President Claudia Sheinbaum lives, prompting a clash with riot police who deployed tear gas, according to media reports.

Mexico City’s public safety secretary, Pablo Vazquez, said in a news conference that 100 police officers were injured, including 40 who required hospital treatment.

Another 20 civilians were also injured, Vazquez told local media outlet Milenio.

The public safety secretary also said 20 people were arrested and another 20 “referred for administrative offences”.

According to El Universal, a Mexican news outlet, security forces fired tear gas and threw stones at protesters as they entered the perimeter of the National Palace.

“With their shields and stones, they [security forces] physically assaulted young people demonstrating in … Zocalo, who ended up injured and assisted by doctors who were also marching and ERUM [Emergency Rescue and Medical Emergencies Squadron] personnel,” El Universal reported.

Police officers, after “chasing and beating protesters on the Zocalo plaza” for a few minutes, “forced people to leave the area and dispersed the last remaining protesters”, it added.

Earlier in the week, some Gen Z social media influencers said they no longer backed Saturday’s protests, while mainstream figures like former President Vicente Fox and Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego published messages in support of the protests.

Sheinbaum, the Mexican president, has also accused right-wing parties of trying to infiltrate the Gen Z movement and of using bots on social media to try to increase attendance.

In several Asian and African countries this year, members of the Gen Z demographic group have organised protests against inequality, democratic backsliding and corruption.

The largest Gen Z protests took place in Nepal in September, following a ban on social media, and led to former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s resignation.

Madagascar also saw major protests that month, initially driven by severe, prolonged water and electricity shortages that exposed wider government failures and corruption. Weeks of unrest culminated in the government’s dissolution, forcing President Andry Rajoelina to flee the country last month and triggering a change in leadership.

In Mexico, many young people say they are frustrated with systemic problems like corruption and impunity for violent crimes.

“We need more security,” Andres Massa, a 29-year-old business consultant, who carried the pirate skull flag that has become a global symbol of Gen Z protests, told The Associated Press news agency.

Claudia Cruz, a 43-year-old physician who joined the protests, said she was marching for more funding for the public health system, and for better security because doctors “are also exposed to the insecurity gripping the country, where you can be murdered and nothing happens”.

Sheinbaum, in power since October 2024, maintains approval ratings above 70 percent in her first year in office but has faced criticism of her security policy due to several high-profile murders, including that of Manzo.

Manzo was the mayor of Uruapan in Michoacan, who was assassinated on November 1, after leading a crusade against drug-trafficking gangs in his town.

His supporters took to the streets in towns in Michoacan on Saturday, too.

Some also travelled to Mexico City for Saturday’s march.

“The state is dying,” said Rosa Maria Avila, a 65-year-old real estate agent who travelled from the town of Patzcuaro in Michoacan state.

“He was killed because he was a man who was sending officers into the mountains to fight delinquents. He had the guts to confront them,” she added.