Albuquerque, New Mexico – A confrontation between protesters who were trying to remove a statue of Juan de Oñate with chains, and a group of armed men that were trying to protect it turned violent.

The Oñate statues have been a source of criticism for decades.

Oñate, who arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598, is celebrated as a cultural father figure in communities along the Upper Rio Grande that trace their ancestry to Spanish settlers. But he’s also reviled for his brutality.

On June 13, the New Mexico Civil Guard, who were accused by protesters of shooting one of them, posted about the call by protesters on Facebook to help to tear down the statue on public property. The New Mexico Civil Guard wrote: “Look the liars are going to try and remove a statue.”

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A video that was allegedly taken at the scene, shows a group of protesters attempting to destroy the public statue with chains and what appears to be a pickaxe.

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The videos below are out of sequence, but the video below shows the protesters attempting to destroy the statue when there are four popping sounds that appear to be gunshots. The protesters, who are pulling on a rope, stop and look in the same direction. In the next video, one of the men who appear to be a member of the New Mexico Civil Guard is administering first aid to the protester who was shot.

According to ABC News– The man was taken to a hospital but his condition was not immediately unknown, said Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos.

This is the shooter. He said, “My father is the BCSO (Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office).”

New Mexico civil guard members and one other man being arrested. All weapons being taken from them. Still no ambulance here. Police are here. Unclear who fired shots

A video shows police arresting two men. According to the people sharing the videos who were allegedly at the scene, the man in the bright blue t-shirt is the alleged shooter:

Here’s another video of the alleged shooter being arrested and placed in a police vehicle.

As the police called the scene, protesters are unhappy that they have not yet been asked questions about what happened and are letting the air out of the tires on the bus in which the police arrived.

Last week, the New Mexico Civil Guard talked about police departments across the nation being defunded or “wholly” disbanded and how “it’s going to be up to the Citizenry to take up the slack and keep our cities and countries safe.”

Is this really where we are as a nation?

With police departments across the nation settling on the prospect of defunding or wholly disbanding their police departments it is going to be up to the Citizenry to take up the slack and keep our cities and counties safe. 
The NMCG has been out every night in ABQ since the violence happened after that one protest. I do not put it past mayor Keller to defund his police department following Minneapolis, Denver, LA, and New York.
We need the good citizens of N.M. to join up and help defend our peaceful citizens. Just because the protests are dying down does not mean it is a time to become less vigilant, this is just a temporary reprieve. If we have learned anything from 2020 it’s that it will be something new next month.
So join up and help us to keep N.M. safe from all threats foreign and domestic.

 

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