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<font size="1"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/19/militia-vigilantes-police-brutality-protests/">https://theintercept.com/2020/06/19/militia-vigilantes-police-brutality-protests/</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Armed Vigilantes Antagonizing Protesters Have Received a Warm Reception From Police</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Mara Hvistendahl - June 19, 2020<br></div></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-line-height4 gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><div><p><u>A former</u>
Albuquerque City Council candidate who ran on a tough-on-crime platform
shot a protester at an anti-police brutality demonstration on Monday
and was arrested alongside members of a right-wing militia group. The
shooting is an extreme example of a trend that has played out across the
country as armed vigilantes pledging to protect property have shown up
at protests — in many cases with encouragement or even explicit
collaboration from law enforcement.</p>
<p>The shooter, <a href="http://cabq.gov/vote/historical-election-information/2019-city-council-candidates-financial-disclosures">Steven Ray Baca</a>,
had been intimidating protesters planning to topple a statue of the
murderous Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate outside the Albuquerque
Museum. He was joined in this quest by members of the New Mexico Civil
Guard, a militia group that emerged in the wake of coronavirus-related
shutdowns.</p>
<p>Baca, who was recently <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Albuquerque.Tea.Party/photos/a.121547381206633/3282321808462492/?type=3&theater">named</a>
a board member of the Albuquerque Tea Party, claims to have family in
law enforcement and has led pro-police activism in the past. Amid
protests over a police killing in 2014, he <a href="https://www.koat.com/article/support-apd-facebook-page/4445222">created</a> a Facebook page in support of Albuquerque officers and <a href="https://www.koat.com/article/facebook-page-created-in-support-of-apd/5055653">told a reporter</a> that he had an uncle with the department. A <a href="https://www.abqjournal.com/1377702/six-candidates-vying-for-district-2-council-seat.html">profile</a> of Baca from his 2019 run for city council notes that he is the son of a former Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy. In a <a href="https://twitter.com/BCSDSheriff/status/1272949546193018882">tweet</a>,
the sheriff’s office said, “His father worked for the agency nearly
twenty years ago, but was no longer an employee of BCSO as of 2001.” But
Baca behaved as if his father still wielded influence, according to
Nicholas Soto, a protester who witnessed the shooting. After firing his
weapon, Soto said, Baca asked law enforcement to call his dad, whom he
said was with the sheriff’s office.</p>
</div><blockquote><span></span><p>Nearly 200 appearances by vigilantes and far-right extremists have been counted at protests over the past few weeks.</p></blockquote><div><p>Before
Baca opened fire, protesters were pulling a chain looped around Oñate’s
neck, preparing to tear down a sculpture viewed as a symbol of genocide
and racism. Members of the New Mexico Civil Guard stood watch carrying
assault weapons, ostensibly to protect the monument. Suddenly, the
cheers gave way to shouts. Baca <a href="https://twitter.com/HolidayRob/status/1272903279719129091?s=20">threw a woman</a>
to the ground, then strode away from the crowd. When protesters chased
after him, a scuffle broke out. “He’s going to fucking kill you!” a
bystander <a href="https://twitter.com/meganrabundis/status/1272735796949213184?s=20">screamed</a> before four gunshots pierced the air. Several of the bullets hit protester Scott Williams in the torso.</p>
<p>With Williams bleeding in the street, the New Mexico Civil Guard
members formed a protective circle around Baca, their weapons ready.
When law enforcement arrived, officers created a second ring around the
militia, according to a video provided by another witness. After
detaining the shooter and several militia members, officers fired tear
gas and flash-bang grenades at the distraught crowd.</p>
<p>“The police handled the New Mexico Civil Guard and the gentleman very
gingerly, with care, to make sure they didn’t get injured, while they
were on the opposite side trying to target Black and Indigenous people,”
said Soto. Williams, the victim, was in critical but stable <a href="https://www.abqjournal.com/1466753/apd-protest-shooter-arrested-charged-with-aggravated-battery.html">condition</a> as of Wednesday night, according to the <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/man-shot-during-protest-still-in-critical-condition-but-improving/">local news station KRQE</a><em>.</em></p>
<p>As the uprisings that followed the police killing of George Floyd in
Minneapolis spread across the country, far-right counterprotesters have
mobilized in large cities like Chicago, as well as small towns like
Bethel, Ohio. Some are members of groups like the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/10/boogaloo-boys-george-floyd-protests/">Boogaloo</a>,
Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters. Others are local supporters of
police. The warm police reception they have received stands in stark
contrast to the violent treatment law enforcement has dealt Black Lives
Matter demonstrators. Two weeks before the shooting in Albuquerque, the
city’s police were caught on film <a href="https://twitter.com/TreeDrought/status/1267869493843365888?s=20">encouraging</a> men in tactical gear preparing to guard property against police brutality protesters.</p></div><div><p>The Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, which <a href="https://www.irehr.org/2020/06/04/dangerous-liaisons-some-in-law-enforcement-look-to-militia-groups/">tracks</a>
white supremacist and far-right groups, has counted nearly 200
appearances by vigilantes and far-right extremists at protests in the
United States over the past few weeks. Alexander Reid Ross, a researcher
at the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right and author of “Against
the Fascist Creep,” separately counted scores of such appearances, 12 of
which involved police collaboration or support.</p>
<p>Many officials, including President Donald Trump, have repeatedly
blamed protest violence on the anti-fascist movement known as antifa and
the “radical left.” But the violence in Albuquerque isn’t the first
instance of right-wing vigilantes being criminally charged for actions
during recent protests. On June 2, federal prosecutors in Nevada <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-nv/pr/joint-terrorism-task-force-charges-three-men-who-allegedly-sought-exploit-protests-las">charged</a>
three members of the Boogaloo movement, which seeks to accelerate
collapse of the political system via civil unrest, with conspiracy to
damage and destroy by fire and explosives. An Army Reserve member and
two military veterans were <a href="https://apnews.com/6223153093f08fa910c4ab445771b773">allegedly</a> headed to downtown Las Vegas with gas canisters and Molotov cocktails. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in California <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1285706/download?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery">charged</a>
a U.S. Air Force sergeant linked to the Boogaloo with murder for
killing a federal security officer near a courthouse in Oakland. He was
also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/steven-carrillo-air-force-boogaloo.html">charged</a> separately for killing a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz County.</p>
<p>Trump’s racist statements and praise of white supremacists over the
course of his presidency have emboldened right-wing extremist groups,
according to organizations that track their rise. Nonetheless, experts
have been shocked at the number of vigilante incidents and reactionary
counterprotests over the past few weeks. “I expected a backlash,” Ross
said, “but the extent is mind-boggling.”</p>
<h3>A History of Collaboration</h3>
<p>The United States has a long history of vigilantes working with
police and government officials to oppress Black and Indigenous people.
As European Americans violently settled Indigenous territories, the U.S.
government offered <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/scalping-in-america-AvU3W-1ae0W3AjR4BHCvEg">rewards</a>
for the scalps of those they sought to displace. In the Jim Crow South,
violent mobs lynched thousands of Black Americans, often advertising
the killings in the newspaper ahead of time. Police sometimes attended,
and many of the victims were political activists.</p>
<p>“There’s a very close connection historically between the police and
vigilantes in the United States,” said Noël Cazenave, a sociologist at
the University of Connecticut and author of “Killing African Americans:
Police and Vigilante Violence as a Racial Control Mechanism.” Vigilante
mobs tend to flare up in reaction to a perceived increase in the power
held by Black people, he said. In the Jim Crow South, the trigger was
abolition; today it is the movement for Black lives. “Such violence is a
way of keeping Black people in ‘their place,’” Cazenave added.</p>
<p>That close relationship has endured. In the wake of President Barack
Obama’s election, militia and anti-government groups proliferated. One
prominent group, the Oath Keepers, is made up of current and former
military and law enforcement members who believe they have a duty to
protect citizens from tyrannical U.S. government actions, such as
confiscating guns. A 2017 <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31/the-fbi-has-quietly-investigated-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-law-enforcement/">investigation</a>
by The Intercept revealed a classified FBI counterterrorism guide that
stated, “Domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia
extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen
extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement
officers.”</p></div><div><div>
<p>An interactive map showing appearances by vigilantes and far-right
extremists at police brutality protests in the United States since the
killing of George Floyd. <span>Map: Alexander Reid Ross</span></p>
</div>
<p>In April and May, with Trump’s encouragement, many groups began
organizing around the issue of reopening the economy amid lockdowns
imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. “The reopen protests became a
recruiting ground for these folks to start coming together and
concocting more horrific plots,” said Devin Burghart, executive director
of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Burghart
draws a direct line between Trump’s rhetoric and the appearance of
far-right groups and white vigilantes at Black Lives Matter protests.
“They are in many respects echoing the words that they hear coming from
the president,” he said.</p>
<p>After a police officer murdered Floyd on Memorial Day, protests broke
out across the U.S., some involving extensive property damage and
looting. In the early morning hours of May 29, Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/29/trump-minneapolis-twitter-protest/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4">tweeted</a>,
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” calling Minneapolis
protesters “THUGS.” As the protests endured, he blamed chaos on antifa
and the “<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1266760009872007171">radical left</a>” and <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267129644228247552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1267129644228247552&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics-news%2Ftrump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321">stated</a> that he would be designating antifa a “terrorist organization,” a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/02/trump-antifa-terrorist-designation/">dubious claim</a>
considering that antifa is not an organization, and the U.S. government
has no mechanism to designate domestic groups as “terrorist
organizations.”</p>
</div><div><p>Nevertheless, Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-william-p-barrs-statement-riots-and-domestic-terrorism">chimed in</a>.
“Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation
to pursue their own separate, violent, and extremist agenda,” he
claimed. “The violence instigated and carried out by antifa and other
similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and
will be treated accordingly.”</p>
<p>In the days that followed, rumors <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/02/false-claims-antifa-protesters-plague-small-us-cities/111899444/">flourished</a> on social media that busloads of antifa actors were headed to small communities across the U.S. The rumors <a href="https://apnews.com/afs:Content:9001290169">were</a> <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7038764/antifa-bus-george-floyd-protests/">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://ktvl.com/news/nation-world/false-claims-of-antifa-protesters-plague-small-us-cities-06-03-2020">proven</a> to be false. Twitter <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/twitter-takes-down-washington-protest-disinformation-bot-behavior-n1221456">suspended</a> an account that claimed to be run by antifa supporters but turned out to be associated with the white supremacist group <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/identity-evropa">Identity Evropa</a>.</p>
<p>But the damage was already done. “Virtually everywhere major
counterprotests emerged over the last two weeks, they involved reaction
to rumors and speculation about antifa based on disinformation spread
through social media and other online platforms,” said Ross. In many
communities, police and public officials encouraged the pushback.</p>
<h3>Special Treatment for White Vigilantes</h3>
<p>A day after Trump’s tweet about looting and shooting, Constable John
Shirley of Hood County, Texas, posted a “Call to Action” in an Oath
Keepers <a href="https://www.irehr.org/2020/06/04/dangerous-liaisons-some-in-law-enforcement-look-to-militia-groups/">Facebook group</a>
accessed by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.
Shirley called for adherents to provide protection at Dallas’s
Salon à la Mode, which had defied the governor’s order to shut down in
response to the pandemic, and encouraged current and former law
enforcement to carry pistols. “We are now in a Global War on Antifa,”
Shirley declared in a second Facebook post.</p>
<p>In communities in the Pacific Northwest, meanwhile, public officials <a href="https://ktvl.com/news/local/not-a-call-to-arms-curry-county-sheriff-explains-facebook-post-on-rumored-antifa-bus?fbclid=IwAR0cMajp5MHuLgKBCtPVKao5McSauag0O6levdxnUTh2ezG0qyhRrez50Qo">welcomed</a> “local boys” who <a href="https://theworldlink.com/news/local/hundreds-turn-out-to-stop-rumored-riot/article_b58d6386-a59b-11ea-90f0-7f3504c58c5d.html">poured</a> into the streets to defend against rumored busloads of antifa. In Snohomish, Washington, the mayor <a href="https://www.snohomishwa.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1007">applauded</a>
the armed men who guarded the city’s downtown on May 31, some waving
the Confederate flag. Many drank alcohol as they stood watch, and the
police chief characterized the armed gathering as a celebratory night of
tailgating. Following a backlash from community members, the chief was <a href="https://www.heraldnet.com/news/after-public-outcry-snohomish-police-chief-is-reassigned/">demoted</a>.</p>
<p>The next day, June 1, a bystander <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/salem-police-chief-apologizes-in-response-to-viral-video-of-officer/283-d7f4ce66-6f8d-4a25-a478-ae3999648d51">filmed</a>
an officer in Salem, Oregon, approaching armed white men to request
that they stay out of sight when curfew hit, so that police wouldn’t
look bad for not arresting them. “My command wanted me to come talk to
you guys and request that you guys discreetly stay inside the buildings
or in your vehicles, somewhere where it’s not a violation, so we don’t
look like we’re playing favorites,” the officer said. As in Dallas, the
men were guarding a salon that had become <a href="https://www.eastoregonian.com/coronavirus/after-flouting-pandemic-restrictions-salem-salon-owner-continues-to-be-a-lightning-rod/article_44d9f844-ab4e-11ea-a23e-5b7229eda54d.html">associated</a> with the reopen movement. (It also had support from the far-right Patriot Prayer group.) In response to <a href="https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2020/06/03/george-floyd-salem-police-chief-addresses-video-officer-discussing-how-avoid-curfew-oregon-protests/3142364001/">outcry</a> over the video, the Salem police chief released his own <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OwzCgC8b6g&feature=youtu.be">video message</a> apologizing for the perception of unequal treatment.</p></div><blockquote><span></span><p>“My
command wanted me to come talk to you guys and request that you guys
discreetly stay inside the buildings or in your vehicles, somewhere
where it’s not a violation, so we don’t look like we’re playing
favorites.”</p></blockquote><div><p>A similar example
of police inaction came that same night in Philadelphia’s Fishtown
neighborhood. Jill St.Clair was out with her boyfriend walking her dog
when she encountered a mob of white men carrying bats, shovels, and
nightsticks. When St.Clair pulled out her phone to record, one of the
men lunged at her, wielding a bat, and spewed a string of profanities.
“Pussy ass bitch,” he yelled. Then he rejoined the others and ran down
the street toward Fishtown’s 26th Precinct.</p>
<p>Distraught, St.Clair called 911. According to a detailed account she
posted on Instagram immediately after the incident, the operator
insisted that the situation was not an emergency. When St.Clair pushed,
the operator transferred her to the 26th Precinct, where St.Clair said
an officer told her that she should be grateful that the men were
protecting her neighborhood. “He kept insisting that I was part of the
problem,” she said. Two other residents who called 911 that night
reported similar reactions from operators. The Philadelphia Police
Department declined to swiftly process a right-to-know request for 911
call records, citing closures connected to Covid-19. A public
information officer said that the department’s internal affairs unit is
investigating the events in Fishtown and declined to comment further.</p>
<p>By the time the men dispersed, they had beaten at least <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/why-didnt-philly-police-respond-to-white-men-with-bats-fishtown-neighbors-wait-for-answers/">three</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jwehrens/status/1267621976379740170">bystanders</a>. A video posted by a vigilante named Justin Haskell showed him talking to a police officer, who gently <a href="https://twitter.com/jpegjoshua/status/1269012246811869186">asked</a>
Haskell’s group to go home so they could arrest people across the
street. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw later <a href="https://www.fox29.com/video/690597">said</a>,
“We do not endorse or condone any form of vigilante justice.” But a
similar scene played out last weekend, when a mob formed at a
Christopher Columbus statue in the city. Police stood by as vigilantes <a href="https://unicornriot.ninja/2020/philadelphia-police-threaten-unicorn-riot-reporter-after-vigilante-assault/">assaulted</a>
Chris Schiano, a reporter with the video outfit Unicorn Riot. Police
Capt. Louis Campione then asked the injured Schiano to leave, accusing
him of inciting a riot. The department subsequently reassigned Campione.
A spokesperson <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/protesters-call-on-mayor-kenney-to-divert-police-dollars-to-housing-arts/">said</a>
that his reassignment was not related to the incident at the statue,
but vigilantes nonetheless staged a demonstration to protest the
department’s move.</p>
<p>“We’ve seen some glaring examples” of police collaboration, said
Burghart. “Compare this to the way they’ve handled Black Lives Matter
activists. Peaceful Black Lives Matter activists have had the weapons of
war on them.”</p></div><div><div><p><a href="https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/06/edit_AP_201681636244571.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90"><img src="https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/06/edit_AP_201681636244571-1000x715.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90" alt="Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue 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 could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="451" height="322"></a></p><p class="gmail-caption">Albuquerque
police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian
group, following the shooting of a man during a protest on June 15,
2020,</p>
<p class="gmail-caption">
Photo: Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP</p></div></div><div><p>Constable
Shirley of Texas wasn’t the only officer promoting the Oath Keepers in
the wake of Floyd’s murder. The day after vigilantes took over Fishtown,
a sheriff’s deputy policing a George Floyd protest in Costa Mesa,
California, was caught on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5StptgwMVM">camera</a>
wearing a distinctive patch. Attached to his tactical vest, the patch
depicted the Three Percenters symbol and read “Oath Keeper.” The <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/antigovernment">anti-government</a>
Three Percenter militia group’s name refers to the idea that it only
took 3 percent of colonial settlers to overthrow the British during the
Revolutionary War. The sheriff <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-03/orange-county-deputy-three-percenters-patch-george-floyd-protest">denounced</a> the officer’s action and put him on leave while the department investigated his behavior.</p>
<p>In Chicago on June 3, men carrying baseball bats and golf clubs
guarded the border between the historically white Bridgeport and
historically black Bronzeville neighborhoods. Police officers stood
nearby, attempting to control traffic as a protest took place in front
of the Bronzeville police precinct. Residents complained of
confrontations with the men but then spotted officers <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/chicago-residents-push-officials-answers-after-video-shows-police-standing-white-vigilantes-1508780?fbclid=IwAR0Q98HRWfP0rlJmEjSvyJaZVIaPyuSsTEMTiCK5mudQcoxBR5KenV3ihIM">socializing</a> with the group. Police scanner recordings reviewed by a reporter with the <a href="https://southsideweekly.com/bridgeport-past-present-live-side-side-vigilantes/">South Side Weekly</a>
reportedly captured an officer saying the individuals were
“neighborhood people just trying to protect the neighborhood.”
Bridgeport, like many communities across the country, has a long history
of white men violently enforcing neighborhood boundaries to keep Black
people out.</p>
<p>The trend continued into a third week of protests against police violence. In Oklahoma last week, one sheriff put out a <a href="https://www.koco.com/article/canadian-county-sheriffs-office-looking-for-volunteers-to-join-sheriffs-posse/32815620">call</a> for
volunteers to join a “sheriff’s posse” to “aid in safeguarding lives
and property.” In Idaho, a former Shoshone County sheriff’s deputy used a
private Facebook group to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-protests-spread-to-small-town-america-militia-groups-respond-with-online-threats-and-armed-intimidation/2020/06/18/75c4655e-b0a1-11ea-8f56-63f38c990077_story.html">promote</a> a
militia-style response to protests in the area. And at a protest in the
town of Bethel, Ohio, this past Sunday, hundreds of armed men <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/gun-toting-trump-supporters-attack-george-floyd-protesters-in-rural-ohio-town/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter">rode in</a> on
motorcycles, wearing Confederate flags and Trump hats, to beat up
participants, as police reportedly stood by and watched. The Bethel
police chief later <a href="https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/clermont-county/bethel-police-chief-mayor-condemn-violence-after-counter-protesters-tout-weapons-during-rally">condemned</a> the violence, adding that his department’s six officers were outnumbered.</p>
<p>Several militia groups have claimed to be collaborating directly with
police. The Facebook page of the Three Percenters – Original <a href="https://www.irehr.org/2020/06/04/dangerous-liaisons-some-in-law-enforcement-look-to-militia-groups/">said</a>
that its Utah chapter coordinated with the Salt Lake City police to set
up an emergency perimeter around a police command post at the request
of officers. A public information officer for the department told The
Intercept that there was no such collaboration. In <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20200608/officer-georgetown-police-did-not-invite-militia-to-protest-saturday">Georgetown, Texas</a>, and <a href="https://www.ktva.com/story/42212536/troopers-city-of-palmer-say-rumors-of-hired-militia-against-protests-are-not-true">Palmer, Alaska</a>,
members of militia groups claimed that public officials approved of
offers to assist law enforcement. In both cases, the officials denied
the claims.</p>
<h3>“Armed Friendlies” in Albuquerque</h3>
<p>In New Mexico, earlier appearances by the New Mexico Civil Guard
sparked little apparent concern among the authorities. On June 1, video
emerged of an Albuquerque <a href="https://twitter.com/TreeDrought/status/1267869493843365888?s=20">police officer</a>
offering a pep talk to men in military garb ahead of a demonstration
against police brutality. The men were apparently working with Ultimate
Fighting Champion mixed martial artist Jon Jones to stop any attempts to
damage buildings. “If you guys see something, holler, but take care of
each other and take care of the people of Albuquerque,” the police
officer told them. The New Mexico Civil Guard, which describes its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/NMCIVILGUARD/about/?ref=page_internal">mission</a> as providing “rapid local lawful response to emergency and dangerous situations,” was <a href="https://www.kunm.org/post/armed-civilian-groups-patrol-abq-protests-raising-questions-coordination-police">among</a> the armed men spotted confronting demonstrators in the city that night.</p>
<p><a href="https://theintercept.com/staff/nick-estes/">Nick Estes</a>,
an American studies professor at the University of New Mexico, was
walking to a community center with friends and activists when two armed
men bolted toward them. One reached in his pants. “I was like, ‘Hey,
what the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to pull a gun on us?’” Estes
recalled. He noticed a larger group of armed individuals gathered
nearby.</p>
<p>The man apologized and explained that he thought they were breaking
in. Estes noted that he and his friends were “a big group of Natives”
outside the Larry Casuse Freedom Center, an organizing space for
Albuquerque’s Native community. The people inside the building, it
turned out, had shut off all the lights out of fear that the armed men
would break in and shoot them.</p></div><div><p>Officers
were overheard on a police scanner the next day describing “armed
friendlies” posted on rooftops near the protest, according to a <a href="https://www.kunm.org/post/armed-civilian-groups-patrol-abq-protests-raising-questions-coordination-police">report</a> by the local radio station KUNM. A member of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/347924879154387/">New Mexico Patriots</a>,
a group that pledges to “uphold the Constitution,” told the station
that they had coordinated with police about monitoring the protests.
“We’ve worked with APD for many years now,” he said.</p>
<p>The Albuquerque Police Department denied any coordination with the Patriots and issued a <a href="https://twitter.com/ABQPOLICE/status/1268008375037554688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1268008375037554688&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2894976-albuquerque-police-investigating-jon-jones-discussion-with-officers-on-video">statement</a>
disavowing the officer’s words of support, stating, “We also discourage
the presence of armed civilians at protests, which has the potential to
escalate violence, not prevent it.”</p>
<p>In the wake of Monday’s shooting, Albuquerque Police Chief Mike Geier
said in a statement, “We are receiving reports about vigilante groups
possibly instigating this violence. If this is true, we will be holding
them accountable to the fullest extent of the law, including federal
hate group designation and prosecution.”</p>
<p>The Bernalillo County prosecutor <a href="https://www.abqjournal.com/1466753/apd-protest-shooter-arrested-charged-with-aggravated-battery.html">charged</a>
Baca with felony aggravated battery for throwing the woman on the
ground, two misdemeanor counts of battery for striking two other
individuals, and unlawful carrying of a concealed gun. District Attorney
Raul Torrez dropped charges for the shooting, however, citing an
incomplete investigation and missteps by the Albuquerque Police
Department, including their failure to preserve the crime scene. “There
were tactics that were used by the Albuquerque Police Department that
made it impossible for key witnesses to the event to actually make
statements,” he noted, referencing “actions to restore order,”
presumably the firing of tear gas and other crowd control weapons, and
the presence of an undercover officer in the crowd. He turned the
investigation over to the New Mexico State Police in hopes that members
of the public would be more comfortable speaking with an outside agency.</p></div><div><div><p><a href="https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/06/edit_GettyImages-1220532105.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90"><img src="https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/06/edit_GettyImages-1220532105.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90&w=1024&h=683" alt="Workers for the City of Albuquerque remove a sculpture of Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate on June 16, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. - A man was shot on June 15 as a heavily armed militia group attempted to defend the statue from US protestors in New Mexico, officials and media reports said. Albuquerque city protesters were demanding the removal of the statue of the state's 16th-century governor, Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate, according to local media. Pueblo and Chicano leaders have been trying for decades to have the statue removed. (Photo by Paul Ratje / AFP) (Photo by PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="451" height="301"></a></p><p class="gmail-caption">Workers for the city of Albuquerque, N.M., remove a sculpture of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate on June 16, 2020.</p>
<p class="gmail-caption">
Photo: Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty Images</p></div></div><div><p>Torrez
said he’d uncovered no links between Baca and the New Mexico Civil
Guard members, who were released. The group also said that he is not a
member, although they defended him as a “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NMCIVILGUARD/photos/a.114152130204627/147957976824042/?type=3&theater">Hispanic victim</a>” on their Facebook page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NMCIVILGUARD/">blaming</a> the violence on antifa. Baca’s attorney <a href="https://www.abqjournal.com/1467181/suspect-in-protest-shooting-faces-additional-charges.html">indicated</a> that he would claim self-defense.</p>
<p>Estes sees the presence of vigilantes at protests as a continuation
of the long history of violent racism in the U.S. Juan de Oñate became
governor of New Mexico in the 16th century after brutally subjugating
the people native to the area. When members of the Acoma Pueblo refused
to pay a food tax and killed Oñate’s nephew in an ensuing altercation,
Oñate massacred hundreds, cutting off the hands and feet of many
survivors. The Spanish government ultimately banished Oñate from New
Mexico. But monuments to the disgraced despot can still be found
throughout the state.</p>
<p>“These New Mexico Civil Guard people, as well as these white militias
around the country, understand these histories, and they are willing to
shoot people to defend these histories,” Estes said. “The significance
of the statue is that it just shows that this colonial violence is
ongoing and that there’s a deep investment in the glory of conquest that
led to the settlement of this land.”</p>
<p>In the wake of the shooting, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller swiftly
removed the monument. He said that the city would “determine next
steps,” adding, “This sculpture has now become an urgent matter of
public safety.”</p>
<p>Estes was unimpressed. The mayor should have acted much sooner, he
said. “There have been multiple reports in local news media by
grassroots organizers that these fascists are coming around and
harassing people. There have been calls to take down these Oñate statues
for generations.” Anti-police brutality organizers’ central demand
remains significant defunding of the Albuquerque Police Department, he
added. Keller has <a href="https://www.kunm.org/post/keller-proposes-new-department-handle-mental-health-calls-instead-police">not committed</a> to that.</p></div></div></div></div>
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