After police eventually steamed in and made arrests, the bloody victims lay sobbing on the concrete waiting for ambulances while the mob ran through the nearby streets laughing and cheering.

Mexico is known to be an 'emo stronghold' — one estimate says there are more than 10,000 emo fans in the capital Mexico City alone. They are being pounced upon, and the ugly scene, which was aired on Mexican tv news bulletins is part of a new wave of violence against this new ‘urban tribe’ — the emo subculture.

According to the news agency AFP, the attackers, catalogued as ‘anti-emos’, include people from other ‘urban tribes’ such as punks, heavy metal fans and cholos, but many are just ordinary working-class teenagers and young men.

Homophobic issue
“At the core of this is the homophobic issue,” Victor Mendoza, a youth worker in Mexico City, told AFP: “This is not a battle between music styles at all. It is the conservative side of Mexican society fighting against something different.”

“The danger is that hate is permeating more and more into Mexican society,” wrote commentator Hugo Garcia in the Mexican daily Milenio: “We should not forget that intolerant violence leads to fascism.”

However, many of the perpetrators appeared unrepentant, posting cell phone videos of the violence on the Internet alongside celebratory messages. “Hey emos. If you are so depressed then kill yourselves,” it said alongside one video. “Queretaro is better without emos.”