Counterprotesters, including members of a militia group, were present as demonstrators tried to pull down a statue of conquistador Juan de Oñate.
A protester was shot in New Mexico Monday night, in what police say is the latest incident of violence from groups counterprotesting civil rights demonstrations.
Earlier Monday, in the northern part of the state, officials had removed a different statue of Onate, who was responsible for the Acoma Massacre in 1599, in which as many as 1,000 Native Americans were killed and many others maimed by amputation. He was accused and convicted by the Spanish colonial government, not known for its sensitivity to the indigenous population of North America, of using “excessive force” against the Acoma people.
Police in Albuquerque had already faced scrutiny for their contacts with the armed militia groups. Earlier this month, a video caught an officer talking to MMA fighter Jon Jones and a group of men, some armed, outside of an academy where he trains. “We want to discourage groups from attempting to engage in a public safety role during protests and large gatherings. They are not trained, and they are more likely to escalate tensions if they are carrying firearms and dressed like military or law enforcement officers,” Gallegos said in a statement to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
The violence from counter-protesters is not limited to New Mexico. In Bethel, Ohio over the weekend, peaceful protesters participating in a Solidarity with Black Lives MATTER? demonstration were met with racial slurs and violence by motorcycle groups, Back the Blue pro-police organizations and gun-owners’-rights advocates.
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