BREAKING: Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico arrests members of the armed NM Civil Guard group.
They came heavily armed, clashed w protestors trying to remove statue of Juan de Onate. One person was shot:
pic.twitter.com/HqI5B6SxUD— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) June 16, 2020
A 31-year-old man has been arrested in a shooting that happened as protesters in New Mexico’s largest city tried to tear down a bronze statue of a Spanish conquistador outside the Albuquerque Museum, police said Tuesday.
The shooting occurred near a Monday night confrontation between protesters and a group of armed men trying to protect the statue of Juan de Oñate before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue.
Moments later, a few gunshots rang out down the street and people yelled that someone had been shot.
“The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” Mayor Tim 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. This sculpture has now become an urgent matter of public safety.”