David Codrea has some coverage on this. This is raw video of the goings-on, albeit shaky at times.
So as best as I can figure, a dude associated with the New Mexico Civil Guard tried to defend a monument along with his fellow members, and ended up retreating from rioters and eventually having to shoot an assailant.
The governor of New Mexico is livid.
One man was shot in Old Town as a protest over the “La Jornada” sculpture in front of the Albuquerque Museum erupted into violence Monday evening.
The shooting occurred during a clash following a peaceful protest to remove the controversial sculpture, a monument that features conquistador Juan de Oñate. The FBI is assisting in the investigation, according to an APD spokesman. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, meanwhile, called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the shooting.
The night began with peaceful protest and prayer but tensions began to escalate when protesters took a pickaxe to the statue and members of the heavily armed New Mexico Civil Guard, a civilian group, tried to protect the monument.
Before the night was over Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other officials condemned the violence and those who instigated it.
“Although we are still learning more about the situation, I am horrified and disgusted beyond words by the reports of violence at a protest Monday night in Albuquerque,” Lujan Grisham said late Monday in a statement. “The heavily armed individuals who flaunted themselves at the protest, calling themselves a ‘civil guard,’ were there for one reason: To menace protesters, to present an unsanctioned show of unregulated force. To menace the people of New Mexico with weaponry — with an implicit threat of violence — is on its face unacceptable; that violence did indeed occur is unspeakable.”
Mayor Tim Keller reacted swiftly following the shooting, tweeting that the city would be “removing the statue until the appropriate civic institutions can determine next steps” in order to contain the public safety risk.
“The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” the mayor wrote 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.”
It didn’t look peaceful to me. So the rioters got their way, the members of the militia were face down in the street and are currently under arrest (I presume), the state wanted to allow the destruction of public property under diversity, and refuses to support the only people who attempted to stop it.
This is humiliating for the militia.
I don’t have many comments, except: [a] don’t go into crowds, [b] don’t carry weapons if you don’t intend to use them, [c] if you intend to retreat, then retreat, don’t waste time, [d] know when your battle will be a losing battle. Without vastly superior projection of force to both the rioters and police, it was always going to end this way.
The rioters were … well, rioters. The police were there in greater numbers and were organized, and were there to protect the rioters anyway, not the militia or state property. The individual cops were there to protect their rank and pensions. By the way, take a look at the armored vehicle in the background.
If you cannot or do not intend to engage in force projection, then operate discretely. As it is, the militia has done damage to their cause, whatever that was.