Daily Lobo new mexico
tuesday April 1, 2014
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Students reflect on Sunday night’s protest by Chloe Henson and Stephen Montoya news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5, @StephenMontoya9
Groups in protest of the Albuquerque Police Department organized two follow-up demonstrations Monday at UNM. Several organizations promoted the events by way of social media. One protest was scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on Central Avenue in front of a Denny’s next to Columbia Drive. Four protesters showed up to the event. Justin Gaudian, who was the first protester on the scene, said he decided to attend after watching the video of APD shooting James Boyd. “I heard about the shooting of James Boyd, and I watched the video,” he said. “It made me sick and really angry. I feel like something needs to be done; APD has a history of violence and injustice. The best way to stand up to that, if the authorities aren’t doing anything, is to get out in the streets.” On March 16, APD shot and killed James Boyd, a homeless man who was caught illegally camping in the Sandia Foothills. In a video that was taken from an officer’s helmet camera, Boyd can be seen turning away from APD officers as they open fire. Gaudian said he would like to see a change in policy that disallows officers paid leave after their offenses. “I would like to see more therapy for police officers in the line of duty because there’s a lot of angry cops out there looking for someone to pick on,” he said.
Frida Salazar / @FridaSg5/ Daily Lobo Sevak Tarpinian, left, Dominika López, center, and Brendan Welch raised banners on the corner of Central and University Monday afternoon as passers by showed their support. This is the third day protesters have taken to the streets against APD within a week. Officers have nonlethal options when it comes to eliminating threats, and the use of firearms should be a last resort, he said. Michael Lovelace, who also
arrived to protest, said he showed up to redeem the original message of Sunday’s march. “I’m here today because last night got a little rowdy and the
message was lost, so I want to get out here with people that are really down with the message,” he said. Their message was well-received, he said, until the protest got
out of control. “I’m just trying not to get shot by APD, man — bottom line, that’s
see Protest page 7
APD’s critics convene to hash out demands by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
Aaron Sweet /@AaronCSweet/ Daily Lobo Larry Kronen addresses attendees of a community forum on planning the next steps of their protest against APD violence Monday night at the ABQ Peace & Justice Center. Protesters organized the forum to allow community members to speak about the events that took place during the protest Sunday night.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 118
issue 124
As protests against the Albuquerque Police Department subsided Monday, protesters came up with three demands for police. At a community forum held at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center on Monday night, more than 50 APD protesters voted to declare their concrete demands against the department’s excessive use of violence in the city. Protesters’ demands included the release of videos of all fatal APD shootings since 2010, the acquittal of all people arrested in Sunday’s protests and the indictment of all officers involved in fatal shootings. Sayrah Namaste, an activist with (un)Occupy Albuquerque who helped to organize the forum, said she was content with the results of the event. “This was an amazing democratic participation,” she said. “It was tremendous, wonderful community input. People got heard. We got three demands,
and we’re all in agreement.” Namaste said protesters from various activist organizations in the city rushed to put up and publicize the event right after a 12-hour standoff among protesters and police Sunday. “All the events of that 10- or 11hour standoff with police really pushed it to ‘let’s have it as soon as we can.’ We put it all together at about 12 a.m. We knew we wanted to do it before the City Council meeting.” Hundreds rallied across downtown Albuquerque and along Central Avenue starting at noon that day, resulting in multiple confrontations and prompting police to teargas protesters near the end of the night. The standoff came after hacker group Anonymous posted a video press release on YouTube urging residents to protest against APD’s excessive use of violence. Namaste said that although the three demands issued by protesters at the forum are not the most important ones, they are effective short-term goals.
see Forum page 2
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