Cámarillo massacre

Cámarillo massacre
Location	Cámarillo, San Carlos Islands, Creeperopolis
Date	3 May 1712 (1712-05-03)
Target	Native San Carlos Islanders
Weapons	Rifles
Deaths	17
Perpetrators	Creeperans
Motive	Anti-Native racism, vigilantism
Convicted	26 Creeperans
Verdict	25 guilty, 1 not guilty
Charges	17 counts of murder

The Cámarillo massacre (Creeperian: Masacre de Cámarillo) was a massacre against Native San Carlos Islanders which occurred in Cámarillo, San Carlos Islands, Creeperopolis.

Massacre

On 3 May 1712, seventeen Natives on the outskirts of Cámarillo were murdered by Creeperans in revenge for the murder of Pedro Gutiérrez Valdivia exactly three centuries earlier. The Cámarillo massacre was met with outcry by Native populations across the islands over the following months. Captain General Juan Palafox Mendoza condemned the massacre and called for the arrest of everyone involved in the massacre.

Aftermath

On 6 May 1712, Palafox Mendoza held a funeral service in a local church for the seventeen murdered Natives. He then allowed Natives to preform their own funeral service abiding by their own religious customs, as only four of those murdered were actually Catholic, in effect, granting the seventeen Natives both a Catholic and Native funeral. The gesture was appreciated by the Natives of the San Carlos Islands.

Trial

By July 1712, twenty-six people with connection to the massacre were arrested. They were tried on 1 September 1712, and in the trial, one was acquitted, six were sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment, fourteen were sentenced to life imprisonment, and five were sentenced to death. The executions were carried out on 30 September 1712. His action against crimes being committed against Natives only increased his support, and he earned reelection in 1715.

See also

• Esclaveta Genocide