The Ninth Circuit has determined that a Nicaraguan protestor experienced past persecution in the form of direct threats and witnessing the shooting of a fellow protestor and friend. “Flores Molina was publicly marked as a terrorist and threatened with torture over social media by government operatives, repeatedly verbally threatened with death by supporters of the Ortega regime, received a death threat painted on his home by masked men likely affiliated with the government, and received a second death threat—this time during a direct confrontation—after he was seriously beaten by six members of the Sandinista Youth. In addition, Flores Molina had a near confrontation with an armed paramilitary group that located him at a hideaway. The threats were credible given the history and context of the Ortega regime’s killing and torture of its political opponents. Indeed, Flores Molina witnessed the killing of his friend and fellow protester when his friend was shot in the head at a demonstration.” “The progression of threats and violence that Flores Molina experienced was set against the well-documented backdrop of the Ortega regime’s violent crackdown on members of the political opposition.”
The full text of Flores Molina v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/06/13/19-73028.pdf