UK ambassador to Mexico fired after video shows him pointing gun at staff

The UK's ambassador to Mexico was quietly fired earlier this year after a video showed him pointing an assault rifle at a local embassy worker in a car. The video, shared on social media platform X, shows diplomat Jon Benjamin pointing his gun at a person whose face is blurred. Meanwhile, a person can be heard laughing in the background.

It was subtitled: “In [the] In a context of daily killings perpetrated by drug traffickers in Mexico, he dares to joke.”

The British Ambassador to Mexico, Jon Benjamin, points a semi-automatic weapon at a concerned Mexican staff member. In a context of daily killings in Mexico by drug traffickers, he dares to joke. @DailyMirror@Guardian@The sun@The Economist@Telegraph@DailyMailUK@FCDOGovUKpic.twitter.com/1obqgsNnTD

– Subdiplomatic (@subdiplomatic) May 28, 2024

According to Financial times, the incident occurred during an official trip to the Mexican states of Durango and Sinaloa in April. Although no official announcement was made, the ambassador was removed from his post after the incident.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said CNN Saturday, “We are aware of this incident and have taken appropriate action. When internal issues arise, the FCDO has robust HR processes in place to resolve them.

Meanwhile, the British government website also indicates that Mr. Benjamin is no longer deployed. His bio page reads: “Jon Benjamin served as United Kingdom Ambassador to Mexico between 2021 and 2024.” His position is listed in a section titled “Prior Roles in Government.”

Mr. Benjamin's LinkedIn page also indicates that his term as ambassador ended in May.

According to the Foreign Office website, Mr Benjamin “joined the diplomatic service in 1986 and previously represented the British Government in Chile, Ghana, Turkey, Indonesia and the United States, during his 35 years of career”.

“He served as UK Ambassador to Chile (2009 to 2014), High Commissioner to Ghana (2014 to 2017) and concurrent Ambassador to several other neighboring West African countries. He also served as Consul General in New York, representing the United Kingdom in Indonesia and Turkey. Among these missions abroad, in London, he also headed the human rights department and was chief of staff to the Minister of European Affairs,'' we read further in his biography.

Mexico notably has a long history of cartel-related violence, with around 30,000 murders per year. The country has extremely restrictive gun laws and has only one gun store, located in a military compound in Mexico City.