A man was shot Monday night after someone opened fire during a protest in Albuquerque pushing for the removal of a statue of a Spanish conquistador. The victim, who has not been identified and whose condition is unclear, was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Police detained several members of a far-right militia group called the New Mexico Civil Guard, according to reporters and witnesses at the scene. Police have not released information about the suspected shooter or why they detained the armed militia members.
#BREAKING
APD is investigating a shooting that just occurred at Mountain/Rio Grande. The shooting occurred during a protest event. One male subject was shot and has been transported. Officers are securing the scene. The public should avoid the area.— Albuquerque Police Department (@ABQPOLICE) June 16, 2020
Video captured after the shooting shows people trying to help the man who was shot. Meanwhile, militia members in tactical gear and armed with rifles surrounded the alleged shooter to keep angry protesters away.
The New Mexico Civil Guard is a right-wing militia group that has held asylum seekers at gunpoint near the border and showed up at Black Lives Matter protests in recent weeks with guns and militarylike garb.
Monday’s protest in Albuquerque aimed to dismantle a statue of Juan de Oñate, a 16th century despot who massacred indigenous people. Recent protests against Oñate statues in New Mexico mirror similar calls to tear down Confederate monuments amid a rise in Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, the man killed after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
The shooting immediately led to strong condemnation from public officials and activists, with some noting that the militia members and alleged shooter were taken into custody by police without incident.
“Notice how calmly they’re all being detained,” former housing secretary Julián Castro tweeted Monday night. “Don’t tell me George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks and Eric Garner — who did not harm anybody — couldn’t be treated differently.”
One of these New Mexico right-wing militia members just shot a person.
Notice how calmly they’re all being detained.
Don’t tell me George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks and Eric Garner—who did not harm anybody—couldn’t be treated differently. https://t.co/itfCvvUg53
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) June 16, 2020
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (D) denounced the shooting and said the statue would be speedily removed as an “urgent matter of public safety.”
“The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” Keller said in a statement. “Our diverse community will not be deterred by acts meant to divide or silence us. Our hearts go out the victim, his family and witnesses whose lives were needlessly threatened tonight.”
Meanwhile, the chief of police vowed to investigate any group that sought to stoke violence at the protest.
“We are receiving reports about vigilante groups possibly instigating this violence,” Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier said in a statement. “If this is true will be holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law, including federal hate group designation and prosecution.”
