José de León Toral (December 23, 1900 – February 9, 1929) was a Mexican

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

who assassinated General Alvaro Obregón, then- president elect of Mexico, in 1928.

Early life

León Toral was born in

Matehuala Matehuala is a city in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, situated at an elevation of about 1,500 m. Matehuala is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name, located in the northern part of the state, on the border with ...

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

, into a family of Catholic miners. He moved to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

and witnessed General Obregón closing churches and arresting priests who were suspected of supporting ex-President

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...

. In 1920, he joined the National League for the Defense of Religious Freedom, which opposed the governments of Obregón (1920–1924) and

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (born Francisco Plutarco Elías Campuzano; 25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the 47th President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. After the assassination of Ál ...

, and he reportedly was also involved in the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

Background

During the Calles administration,

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...

of the

Catholic Church in Mexico The Mexican Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Mexico, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, his Roman Curia, Curia in Rome, and the national Mexican Episcopal Conference. According to the Mexi ...

greatly expanded in 1926 under the Calles Law, which provided for the execution of priests and other individuals who violated provisions of the 1917 Constitution. Wearing clerical garb in public outside church buildings was punishable by a fine of 500 pesos, then approximately US$250. A priest who criticized the government could be imprisoned for five years with no right to trial by jury. Some states enacted even more oppressive measures. Chihuahua enacted a law permitting only a single priest to serve all of the state's Catholics. To help enforce the law, Calles seized church property; expelled all foreign priests; and closed the monasteries, convents, and religious schools. Obregón had been more lenient to Catholics during his time in office, but the Cristeros and almost everyone else believed that Calles was merely his puppet leader. In 1927, two of León Toral's friends, Frs. Humberto and

Miguel Pro José Ramón Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, also known as Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ (January 13, 1891 – November 23, 1927) was a Mexican Jesuit priest executed under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles on the false charges of bombing and at ...

, were executed after they had falsely been accused of plotting to assassinate Obregón. Allegedly incited by a Catholic nun, Concepción Acevedo de la Llata, also known as 'Madre Conchita' or Mother Conchita, he decided to assassinate Obregón, whom he blamed for the government's persecution against Catholics.

Assassination

On 17 July 1928, two weeks after Obregón had been re-elected as president, León Toral, a sketch artist, entered La Bombilla restaurant in

San Ángel San Ángel is a ''Colonia (Mexico), colonia'' (neighborhood) located in the southwest of Mexico City in Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, Álvaro Obregón borough. Historically it was a rural community called Tenanitla in the pre-Hispanic period. It ...

, where a party honoring Obregón was under way. Disguised as a caricaturist, he drew caricatures of Obregón, the orchestra director, and Aarón Sáenz, and showed them to Obregón, who told him the caricatures were well done and suggested that he should continue. When Obregón turned to sit down, León Toral drew a gun and shot him five or six times in the back, killing him instantly. León Toral was arrested immediately and pleaded guilty, claiming that he killed Obregón to facilitate the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ. Mother Conchita was also arrested and received a 20-year prison sentence but was pardoned after serving 13 years; she eventually married Carlos Castro Balda, a bomber of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies.

Execution

José de León Toral was sentenced to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and executed by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

on Saturday, February 9, 1929 in the ''

Palacio de Lecumberri The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive (Mexico), General National Archive (''Archivo General de la Nación''). Known in popular cult ...

''. His last words were ''¡Viva Cristo Rey!'' (Long Live Christ the King!), the battle cry of the Cristeros. He was buried in the Spanish Pantheon.

Conspiracy theory

The Mexican writer Rius Facius rediscovered the testimony of the inspection of Obregón's corpse carried out by a doctor. The testimony stated that the body had bullet holes of different calibers, which suggested that more than one weapon was used to assassinate Obregón. This led to the theory that although José de León Toral undoubtedly fired one weapon, he was not the only one, and there were other shooters as well.

Primary Sources

León Toral, José de, and Concepción Acevedo y de la Llata. 1929. ''El Jurado De Toral Y La Madre Conchita : Lo Que Se Dijo Y Lo Que No Se Dijo En El Sensacional Juicio : Versión Taquigráfica Textual''. Mexico, D.F: publisher not identified. León Toral, José de, and Concepción Acevedo y de la Llata. 1928. ''Requisitoria Del Ministerio Público Y Alegatos De Los Defensores En El Jurado De José De León Toral Y Concepción Acevedo Y De La Llata : Reos Del Delito De Homicidio Proditorio Del General Alvaro Obregón''. México: Talleres Gráficos de la Nación. Toral de De León, Maria. 1972. ''Memorias De María Toral De De León'' . ed.ed. México: Editorial Tradición.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon Toral, Jose 1900 births 1929 deaths Executed assassins Executed Mexican people People executed by Mexico by firing squad Mexican Roman Catholics Far-right politics in Mexico People from Matehuala People of the Mexican Revolution Mexican assassins Christ the King People convicted of murder by Mexico Mexican people convicted of murder