An Ecuadorian journalist, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, said Aristegui Live moments of tension he experienced when An armed group seized the premises of TC Televisión.

The journalist said that the attack happened on an ordinary day while the editorial staff carried out their daily tasks. Around two o’clock in the afternoon, armed men entered through the main door.

“Where do all the people go when they do interviews?which included presidential candidates, the President of the Republic himself“, He said.

This unprecedented act caused panic among employees, who were forced to seek makeshift shelter in the face of immediate threat.

“We were in the editorial office when suddenly a colleague warns us who came in,” he said. “You will understand the panic that existed among all the people. “It was a wave of people running everywhere to hide from the armed men who entered the national television channel for the first time during a news broadcast.”

In the midst of the chaos, the journalist and his colleagues witnessed attackers armed with pistols, dynamite and grenades. they took control of the television studio.

“I hid on the second floor, where no one knew what was happening. I warned them, told them what was happening, that they had come to kill us. At that moment I hid build something like a trench between modules, chairs and doors; and feign obvious distress in case they want to enter.

Three minutes later they tried to enter. They knocked down doors and insultedexplosions were heard. While this was happening, We saw on the air what was happening. Ten subjects took part in the study, and these subjects were armed with long weapons. “They planted dynamite on a colleague.”

During these dramatic moments, the journalist thought there would be crossfire and there might be deaths. The armed raid is gone two people were injured, no deaths, he claimed.

“They told us: ‘Sons of bitches, They believe that because they are journalists, we are not going to lie to them.. The mafia has arrived. Let’s kill them all‘. “They included most of their colleagues in the news feed.”

“Unofficially We know that they were looking for a journalist from the media. They never insistently mentioned their first and last names, but they mentioned it. They came for him. Since he wasn’t there, maybe the criminal operation didn’t go the way they wanted.”

The journalist noted that as soon as the police arrested the hooded men, they realized that most of them were “inexperienced, very young” people.

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“Mafia they use minors to commit crimes, doing the most terrible work,” he said. “They use young people to kill because the law is against them. He doesn’t judge them like an adult.. They know”.

The affected media are part of the set was confiscated by the government, first under the administration of former President Rafael Correa and then under successive governments.

The arrest, according to the journalist, is related to legal, administrative and financial issues. Despite changes in government, the channel remains under state controlwith current intent to sell.

The full interview can be viewed here: