Chaos erupted Thursday when gunfire rang out during a protest in northern New Mexico where officials planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, an event that district officials had postponed in anticipation that anger would escalate.
A man was shot and rushed to the hospital as Rio Arriba County sheriff’s officers took the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Ryan Martinez, into custody.
Authorities said they are not currently looking for any other suspects in connection with the shooting.
Oñate has been a controversial figure in New Mexico history for generations, with activists targeting statues and other likenesses of the Spaniard for his oppressive and sometimes brutal treatment of Native Americans during his country’s conquest of what is now the American Southwest . Some Hispanics have pointed to the statue as a symbol of their heritage.
Although the district had postponed the installation of the statue the day before due to public safety concerns, the crowd still showed up.
Ryan Martinez is seen drawing a gun during a rally outside the Rio Arriba County building in Española, New Mexico on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. AP
Protesters arrived on Tuesday and set up tents. They placed offerings on and around the empty pedestal to Oñate: pottery, corn stalks, votive candles, a basket of vegetables.
Banners read, “not today Oñate,” and “celebrate resistance not conquerors.”
The man who would later draw and fire a gun used profanity in an altercation with a protester and was told by law enforcement officers to leave.
Video shot by onlookers shows the man jumping a short wall and heading towards the crowd as others catch him.
One shouted, “Hey, hey, hey. Let him go!” as he broke free and jumped back over the wall.
That’s when he pulled a gun from his waistband and fired one shot before running away. Screaming ensued.
Activists tend to shooting victims during protests where officials have planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate on September 28, 2023.AP
Someone was heard saying, “Help me! Help me!” and “I can’t breathe.”
The shooting happened outside the doors of county offices, including the sheriff’s office.
More than 20 law enforcement vehicles responded, filling the city streets of Española overlooking the Upper Rio Grande Valley.
The injured man, whose name was not immediately released by authorities, was shot in the upper body and is being treated at a local hospital, authorities said.
First responders attend to a man who was shot at a rally outside the Rio Arriba County building in Espanola, New Mexico on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. AP
Authorities said the motive for the shooting was unclear.
“Again, the saddest part about this is that we have another incident of gun violence,” county Sheriff Billy Merrifield said at a brief news conference.
Merrifield said he expressed concerns about safety issues to county commissioners regarding the reinstallation of the statue in Española outside the county building. He said he was grateful to the commissioner who decided not to install the statue.
Jennifer Marley, San Ildefonso Pueblo, and others hug after a man was shot during a rally outside the Rio Arriba County building in Espanola, New Mexico on Thursday.AP
He declined to answer any questions, saying New Mexico State Police are handling the scene and investigation.
State police did not immediately return an email or phone call Thursday night from The Associated Press seeking any information about the victim’s condition or any charges that have been filed or are pending in connection with the shooting.
A dispatcher who was not authorized to release any information said additional details were expected to be released late Thursday night or Friday.
Jennifer Marley, of San Ildefonso Pueblo, an organizer for the Native American rights group The Red Nation, said the shooting happened within sight of the county sheriff’s department building but without any officers on the scene to intervene.
The suspect was arrested after allegedly shooting and injuring a man at a protest Thursday, authorities said.AP
“It was horrible. This is a call to peaceful action. We are there to celebrate the fact that the statue did not go up,” he said.
He described Oñate’s legacy as one of genocidal violence. “It’s really ironic, basically I’m saying that this violence continues … even when we are at peace and praying. The shooting started while I was talking.”
The shooting happened on the day the New Mexico Department of Health released a report on a shooting victim being treated at a New Mexico hospital.
Activists put on an empty pedestal where Rio Arriba County officials had planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate on Thursday in Española, New Mexico.AP
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham commissioned the report earlier this month, in addition to issuing a public health order temporarily suspending gun rights in the Albuquerque area because of recent gun violence.
A federal judge blocked aspects of it while a flurry of lawsuits alleging violations of constitutional rights played out.
According to the report, there will be a 16% increase in patients admitted to intensive care units for firearm injuries between 2019 and 2022.
Gunshot victims transferred from the emergency department to the operating room increased by 61% during the same time period.
The report also noted that deaths from firearm injuries between 2017 and 2021 increased among Hispanic, non-Hispanic Native American and non-Hispanic Black populations.
Demonstrators react after gunfire during a protest where officials had planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023.AP
Tony Ortega, a 78-year-old retired technician who works at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said he was glad to hear the county plans to put the Oñate statue back on public display as a symbol of local Hispanic pride. But he said he knew it would cause problems.
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“I knew this was going to be a problem. The Native Americans didn’t want it,” Ortega said. “They thought Oñate was a bad person more or less.”
Oñate, who arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598, is celebrated as a cultural father figure in communities along the Upper Rio Grande that trace their ancestry to Spanish settlers. But he was also criticized for his cruelty.
For Native Americans, Oñate is famous for ordering the right leg amputated of 24 captive tribal warriors after his army stormed the mesa-top “sky city” of Acoma Pueblo.
The attack was triggered by the murder of Onate’s nephew.
In 1998, someone sawed off the right leg from Oñate’s statue near Española, where it was displayed until it was taken down in 2020 amid a national movement for racial justice that sought to demolish many of the monuments.
Oñate’s likeness among Spanish colonial caravans set in bronze outside the Albuquerque city museum also drew protests in 2020 that resulted in its removal.
Rio Arriba County Commission Chairman Alex Naranjo, a former Democratic magistrate judge and school board member, said he remains committed to returning the statue to public display.
He said the bronze likeness and accompanying cultural center in the community near Alcalde were commissioned at a cost of more than $1 million in county, state and federal funding, in a project championed by his uncle Emilio Naranjo as a state senator and public figures including former Gov. Bill Richardson.
He blamed Thursday’s confrontation on “disrespectful” protesters from outside the Española Valley, though many protesters on Thursday cited local Native American connections.
“For me it’s a matter of principle,” said Naranjo, who traces his ancestry to Spanish settlers who arrived in the late 1500s. “I don’t question anyone who disagrees with me as long as they do so in a respectful and friendly manner.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
