ANTI WOKE MAGA GUNMAN

New Mexico man charged with attempted murder in protest shooting

Andrew Hay
Updated Fri, September 29, 2023 


(Reuters) -A New Mexico man was charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a demonstrator at a protest over plans to reinstall a statue of a Spanish conquistador in the north of the state, police said.

Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Martinez of Sandia Park was arrested on Thursday after he shot a 42-year-old man while attempting to disrupt a peaceful protest at a civic center in Espanola, state police said in a statement.

The return of the statue of 16th-century colonial ruler Juan de Onate to a pedestal outside the public offices had been planned for Thursday but postponed by officials due to security concerns. The bronze was taken down in 2020 during nationwide anti-racism protests to topple monuments to European colonizers and Confederate officials.

A public defender assigned to Martinez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The wounded man, identified by family as Native American climate activist Jacob Johns of Seattle, was in critical condition at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque awaiting surgery, said Mateo Peixinho, an organizer for the protest rally.

"We strongly believe this fits the definition of a hate crime and domestic terrorism due to the fact that he was wearing a MAGA hat and displaying instigating behavior all morning," Peixinho said in a statement, referring to the "Make America Great Again" slogan used by former President Donald Trump.

Police said Martinez jumped a low wall and got into a scuffle with protesters before he pulled a handgun from his waistband, fired one shot and fled.

It was the latest violence around statues to Onate, the area's first colonial governor, erected in the 1990s to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Spaniards.

The monuments have long outraged Native Americans and others who trace Onate's brutal 1598 colonization to contemporary problems ranging from gender inequality to institutional racism.

Some ancestors of Spanish colonial settlers, known as Hispanos, say he should be celebrated as part of New Mexico's Hispanic heritage.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay; Editing by Chris Reese and William Mallard)

Suspect arrested in shooting that injured 1 at site of New Mexico statue protest

Clyde Hughes
Fri, September 29, 2023 

Simaah/Pixabay

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- One person was arrested after a shooting that injured one person at a rally against plans to erect a statue of a Spanish conquistador in New Mexico.

Ryan Martinez, 23, was arrested by Pojoaque Pueblo police at around 12:15 p.m. MDT on Thursday after fleeing the scene in a white Tesla.

Protesters had gathered at the Rio Arriba County government building in Espanola, N.M., to demonstrate against the county government's plan to install the nearly 30-year-old bronze statue of the Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate.

Witnesses said a scuffle took place during a speech at the site before a shot rang out as organizers said Martinez attempted to make his way up to a pedestal where the statue was set to be placed.

One person, identified as Jacob Johns, of Spokane, Wash., was struck by a single bullet in the chest and was in stable condition at Presbyterian Espanola Hospital.

Authorities did not immediately provide further details of the shooting, including publicly naming Martinez as the suspect or what charges he may face.

The statue of Onate was taken down by the Rio Arriba County government in 2020, with some accusing him of enslaving the local Pueblo population. '

"He stood for violence, for genocide, for rape," Jennifer Marley of the group San Ildefonso Pueblo, said. "That point was proven today."


Man shot at protest against plans to reinstall controversial New Mexico conquistador statue

Joe Sutton and Amanda Jackson, CNN
Fri, September 29, 2023 

A man was shot Thursday during a protest against plans to reinstall a statue of a controversial Spanish conquistador in northern New Mexico, police say.

Demonstrators were gathered in the city of Española, where officials had planned to reinstall a statue of Juan de Oñate but canceled the event over public safety concerns.

Ryan Martinez, 23, is suspected of shooting a man during an altercation that broke out at the protest, Rio Arriba County Sheriff Billy Merrifield said.

Martinez, who was taken into custody Thursday, was being held on charges of attempted murder in the first degree and aggravated assault, New Mexico State Police said Friday.

The man who was wounded was airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque, said Merrifield, who did not know the victim’s condition.

New Mexico State Police are investigating the shooting, they said.

The statue of Oñate, who established the colony of New Mexico over 400 years ago, initially stood in the neighboring city of Alcalde, but was taken down in 2020 after protests demanding its removal. That came amid a wave of demonstrations in cities nationwide over monuments of controversial historical figures, including slaveowners, Confederate leaders and colonizers.

Oñate led a massacre of 800 to 1,000 indigenous people, after which he cut a foot off some survivors and sold some into slavery. He was later convicted of using excessive force and banished from New Mexico, and he remains a controversial figure in the state.

Rio Arriba County commissioners decided to reinstall the statue in a new location in front of a county building in Española, according to the sheriff.

The rededication of Oñate’s statue was scheduled to take place Thursday, but county officials postponed the event, citing safety concerns.

Despite the postponement, some demonstrators still showed up at the site on Thursday to protest the plan to install the statue.

Video recorded by a witness shows the moments leading to the shooting, in which a scuffle breaks out between a man and a group of others. The man eventually jumps over a retaining wall to escape the others before producing a gun and aiming toward them, the video shows. A gunshot is heard.

It’s unclear what led to the initial scuffle.

Ryan Martinez, center, stands at a rally outside a Rio Arriba County building on Thursday. Police say he later shot and wounded a man during a scuffle.

 - Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal/Zuma

The witness, Ray Naranjo, told CNN the shooter fled in a car as someone at the event followed him.

Merrifield had submitted a letter to the county’s commissioners on Thursday advising them that he “disagreed with them moving the statue at the current time” and wanted to “prevent any kind of safety issues (or) concerns, which we knew we were going to have,” he said at a news conference Thursday.

“Obviously we have a situation as of today,” he added.

Merrifield added he was grateful for the two commissioners who decided to stop the statue’s planned installation Thursday.

New Mexico man charged with attempted murder in shooting at protest over Spanish conquistador statue

MORGAN LEE
Fri, September 29, 2023 







Activists tend to a shooting victim during a protest where officials had planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, in Española, N.M. (Luis Sanchez Saturno/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man was charged Friday with attempted murder in a shooting that wounded one person at a protest over plans to install a statue of a Spanish conquistador outside government offices in the city of Española.

Defendant Ryan David Martinez, from Sandia Park, was read the felony charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon at his first appearance in municipal court. No plea was entered.

A temporary public defender assigned to Martinez could not be reached immediately by phone and didn't respond to voice messages. An apparent relative of the defendant answered the phone but declined to comment or confirm her family relation.

Martinez was arrested Thursday after chaos erupted and a shot was fired during protests in Española about plans to install a bronze likeness of conquistador Juan de Oñate, who is both revered and reviled for his role in establishing early settlements along the Upper Rio Grande starting in 1598.

Installation of the statue was planned for Thursday but was canceled by county officials amid security concerns. The statue of Oñate in armor on horseback was commissioned in the 1990s and installed near Española amid fanfare and resentment. The statute was taken down in 2020 during a national movement for racial justice that sought to topple countless monuments.

The victim of Thursday's shooting, a 42-year-old man, was flown to an Albuquerque hospital for treatment of a wound to the abdomen. His condition was not immediately available from state police overseeing the shooting investigation.

A warrant for Martinez's arrest includes testimony from witnesses who described an otherwise peaceful protest Thursday and the arrival of several men in “MAGA” hats. One witness told state police that protesters' children were gathered together near a makeshift shrine at the pedestal intended for the Oñate statue, amid misgivings about safety, and that “peacekeepers” blocked Martinez's way from entering the area.

Police reviewed video of the confrontation as recordings circulated on social media.

“Ryan is seen attempting to rush the shrine and being stopped by a group of men,” Officer Shane Faulkner says in the narrative. “As Ryan (retreated) back over the short wall, a man can be heard saying, ‘Let him go.’ The group of men do not try to pursue Ryan, and Ryan pulled his handgun from his waistband and shoots.”

Martinez was transported to a detention center in the Rio Arriba County government seat of Tierra Amarilla. A hearing on possible terms of pretrial detention is scheduled next week.

A pretrial services report showed no prior convictions for Martinez and no prior failures to appear in court.

___

Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this story.

Shooter opens fire at New Mexico protest against conquistador statue, injuring 1

Chris Pandolfo
Fri, September 29, 2023 




A man was shot Thursday after gunfire erupted at a protest in northern New Mexico, where activists opposed the installation of a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate.

The man was injured and taken to the hospital while Rio Arriba County sheriff's officials arrested the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Ryan Martinez. Authorities said Martinez was the only suspect wanted in connection to the shooting.

Oñate has been a controversial figure in New Mexico's history for generations. Activists have targeted the statue and other likenesses of the Spaniard for what they say was his brutal and oppressive treatment of Native Americans during the Spanish conquest of what is now the Southwestern United States. Some Hispanics view the statue as a symbol of their heritage.

The county had previously postponed the installation of the statue in anticipation of public safety concerns, according to The Associated Press.

Protesters arrived Tuesday and pitched tents. They placed offerings on and around the empty pedestal to Oñate, including pottery, corn stalks, votive candles and a basket of vegetables. Banners read, "not today Oñate," and "celebrate resistance not conquistadores."

The suspected shooter had argued with protesters and was told by law enforcement officers to leave before violence erupted. Video filmed by an onlooker showed an altercation between the man and a group of protesters which ended in a shooting.

A witness told local news station KRQE that the suspect was trying to get back into the protest circle, which was right in front of the sheriff's office.

"He was trying to get back into the circle. And they were trying to hold him from coming back in because there were children there. And that’s when an altercation took place," said witness Raymon Naranj.

The video shows the suspect, wearing a green sweatshirt and red MAGA hat, hop over a short wall and rush at the crowd while others grabbed him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Let him go!" one person yelled before the suspect broke free and jumped back over the wall. He then drew a gun from his waistband and appeared to fire a single shot before fleeing the scene. People can be heard screaming after the shot rang out.

One person could be heard saying, "Help me! Help me!" and "I can't breathe."

The wounded man, who has not been identified, was shot in the upper torso and was being treated at a local hospital, authorities said.

Authorities said they have not determined a motive in the shooting.

"Once again, the saddest part about this is we have another incident of gun violence," County Sheriff Billy Merrifield told reporters.

This is the second time someone was shot at a Juan de Oñate statue protest. On June 15, 2020, Scott Williams was shot after protesters attempted to topple a bronze Oñate statue outside an Albuquerque museum. Williams was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in critical but stable condition, police said at the time.

The man who shot and injured Williams, Stephen Baca, had claimed self-defense. He pleaded no contest to one aggravated battery charge and guilty to battery for pushing two women down. Baca also pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a deadly weapon because he concealed his gun without a license, KRQE reported.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez condemned Thursdays' shooting in a statement.

"I strongly condemn the cowardly act of violence that we witnessed today in Rio Arriba County and stand ready to assist local law enforcement in whatever way possible. There is no excuse and no place for political violence in America. Regardless of our diverse political views we must remain committed to the rule of law and the right of every citizen to express themselves without fear," Torrez said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.