gangs attacking protesters side by side", and that the government tolerated this activity. Robert Serra's murder Rising PSUV member and colectivo mediator Robert Serra was stabbed more than 30 times, killing him, in his "heavily guarded home" on 1 October 2014. The Venezuelan government blamed the opposition for Serra's death; Foreign Policy said others considered his murder "inside job" because the government was "more factionalized since the death of Hugo Chávez" with different "ideological strains and interests [clashing] beneath the party’s surface". A week after Serra's death, clashes between Venezuelan police and colectivos began when police raided the headquarters of the Shield of the Revolution group and according to José Odreman, "a close associate of Serra" and leader of the 5 de Marzo group, a colectivo member was "shot dead in his sleep" during the raid. Three officers were allegedly taken hostage. Right before he was shot, Odreman had made statements hinting at government involvement in Serra's death, saying to Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres, “I lay full responsibility on you of what might happen to me. Enough comrades have been sacrificed”. A little over an hour after his statements, photographs emerged showing the 5 de Marzo colectivo leader Odreman being held captive by Venezuelan authorities, followed by videos which showed his dead body lying in a pool of blood. The Venezuelan government denied any relationship to Serra's death and stated that the clashes between colectivos and authorities were due to a murder investigation. The director of CICPC, José Gregorio Sierralta, stated that officers were allegedly fired upon and responded with deadly force that killed the colectivo members including Odreman. Residents of the building denied Sierralta's statements, stating that there was no confrontation or hostages, that Venezuelan authorities first raided the building allegedly killing one member in his sleep then raided the building once more supposedly capturing and executing the other four colectivo members, altered nearby evidence and stole items from the scene. Maduro stated that the five men who were killed in the incident were allegedly a gang of former police officers led by Odreman. Runrunes noted in an investigative article that the police and bodyguards arrested by Venezuelan authorities involved with Serra's death were also members of colectivos. Following the clashes, Humberto López ("El Ché"), a colectivo leader, stated that all colectivos were on "war footing" and that the colectivos "did not bet on death, we are committed to