Killing of 2 young brothers triggers huge protest in Mexico cartel bastion: “I want to live, not survive” [Video]

Thousands took to the streets Thursday to protest the killing of two children in an attempted carjacking in Mexico’s troubled northwestern state of Sinaloa.

Mothers and children in school uniforms were among those calling for an end to months of cartel violence that has at times closed schools and businesses in the state capital, Culiacan.

A group of children made banners with slogans such as “I want to live, not survive,” Agence France-Presse reported.

A small group of protesters forced their way into the offices of Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha, trashing them and demanding his resignation. Rocha, a close ally of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has been unable to control his state’s violence despite the deployment of troops.

“We understand people’s outrage,” state spokesman Feliciano Castro said a short time later, noting that federal authorities were investigating the killings.

Brothers Gael and Alexander Sarmiento, ages 12 and 9 respectively, …