Rodney King gets his revenge! Well Almost. Original Article Mexico police officers beaten in riot Sam Enriquez and Carlos Martinez Los Angeles Times May. 5, 2006 12:00 AM SAN SALVADOR ATENCO, Mexico - Thousands of riot police stormed the town square early Thursday to subdue machete-wielding protesters who had beaten two officers into unconsciousness, dragging them through the streets in attacks televised nationwide. The violence that began early Wednesday in this rural town on the outskirts of Mexico City was a bloodier reprise of a 2002 rebellion that kicked out the elected local government and established self-rule after a dispute sparked by President Vicente Fox's plan to put an airport nearby. The televised scenes of police helpless to save their colleagues or to subdue rioters were another embarrassment for Fox. They also offered a backdrop for Subcomandante Marcos, the leader of Zapatista rebels in southern Mexico, who was in the capital to denounce the July 2 presidential election and call for the overthrow of the federal government, regardless of the winner. Leftist former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is locked in a tight battle with Felipe Calderon, of the conservative National Action Party, to succeed Fox, who is barred from re-election. Former ruling party candidate Roberto Madrazo is a distant third. A 14-year-old boy, identified as Javier Cortes Santiago, was reported killed and dozens more injured in confrontations that began Wednesday when authorities kicked out flower vendors from their usual spot in a nearby city. Rioters first blocked a stretch of federal highway here about 14 miles northeast of Mexico City, turning back police with rocks, Molotov cocktails and large firework rockets. By Wednesday afternoon, two officers had been trapped by crowds, and TV helicopter news crews broadcast beatings that mirrored the attack on truck driver Reginald Denny during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. One Mexican officer lay prone for several minutes as groups of men took turns kicking and beating him until they apparently tired. He was then stripped of his protective gear and dragged down the street for others to strike. An ambulance finally reached the man, but it had been commandeered by rioters. Another badly beaten officer was loaded into the back of a red pickup truck and slowly driven around town for display.