José de León Toral

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is León and the second or maternal family name is Toral.

José de León Toral in prison during his trial.

José de León Toral as a young man.

José de León Toral , December 23, 1900 - Mexico City, February 9, 1929) was a Roman Catholic militant who assassinated general Álvaro Obregón, president elect of Mexico in 1928.

León Toral was born in Matehuala into a family of Catholic miners in the state of San Luis Potosí. León Toral moved to Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution, and witnessed the then constitutionalist general Obregón closing churches and arresting priests who were suspected of collaboration with the dictator Victoriano Huerta. In 1920 he joined the League for the Defense of Religious Freedom which opposed the governments of Obregón (1920–1924) and Plutarco Elías Calles and reportedly was also involved in the Cristero movement. In 1927 two of his friends Humberto and Miguel Pro were executed after having been convicted (wrongly) of plotting to assassinate Obregón. Because of this, and having been incited by a Catholic nun, Concepción Acevedo de la Llata (La Madre Conchita), León Toral decided he should assassinate Obregón.

On July 17, 1928, two weeks after Obregón had been elected president, León Toral entered La Bombilla, a restaurant in San Ángel during a banquet organized to honor general Obregón, disguised as a caricaturist. León Toral made a caricature of Obregón and Aarón Sáenz, and showed it to Obregón, who told him the drawing had good likeness and suggested he continue. After Obregón turned around to sit down, León Toral suddenly drew a gun and shot Obregón five or six times in the back, killing him instantly.

León was arrested immediately and pleaded guilty, claiming he killed Obregón in order to facilitate the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ.^{[citation needed]} Madre Conchita was also arrested and received a 30 year prison sentence. León Toral was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in February 1929. His last words were ¡Viva Cristo Rey! (Long Live Christ the King!), the battle cry of the Cristeros.