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monday April 7, 2014
Protesters insist on peaceful rally
Demonstrations against APD persist by Chloe Henson
assistant-news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 Protesters gathered Friday evening for another round of demonstration against the Albuquerque Police Department. Though the 12-hour APD protest on March 30 ended in tear gas, this time the protesters dispersed peacefully. Protesters occupied Civic Plaza at 4:15 p.m Friday before marching through the downtown area and east along Central Avenue toward UNM. The protest ended as the crowd returned to Civic Plaza around 9 p.m. Many of the demonstrators insisted on keeping the protest peaceful. “We are going to change the world,” shouted Nora Anaya, 64, through a megaphone as they marched along Central. “Things are going to be better now because this is a peaceful protest.” As some protesters started moving into the street, others in the group urged them to stay on the sidewalk. Police followed the march without taking part in any confrontations. The protesters were campaigning
against what they perceive as APD’s frequent use of excessive force, Anaya said. On March 16, Albuquerque Police Department officers shot and killed James Boyd, a homeless man who was caught illegally camping in the Sandia Foothills. In a video that was taken by an officer’s helmet camera, Boyd can be seen turning away from APD officers as they open fire. But despite her insisting that it was a peaceful demonstration, said Cat Trahan, an anti-police brutality protester from California, a citizen from outside of the protest moved in front of Trahan’s bicycle and deliberately hit her in the face. “Where are the police now?” she said. Still, Trahan said, Fraiday’s protest was mild compared to the March 30 event. She said the protest then had been unpredictable on both ends. Anaya, whose nephew was shot dead by APD, said last week’s protest started out peacefully before some of the younger protesters decided to act on their own. But she said some credit had to be given to the March 30 protest because of the impact it had on the media and
Sergio Jiménez / @SXfoto / Daily Lobo Tylina Hardy, 28, holds a sign reading “Play By The Rules Blue” during a third round of demonstrations against the Albuquerque Police Department on Friday evening. The protesters occupied Civic Plaza at 4:15 p.m that day before marching downtown and up Central Avenue toward UNM, insisting along the way that the protest was to remain peaceful. politicians. gassed at the first protest. He said larger social movement,” he said. “If “The first one had about 1,000 he thought the use of tear gas on the these protests continue, I’ll come.” people,” she said. “The politicians protesters was unwarranted. Anaya said there will continue started talking to us. They weren’t “That was kind of the push that to be protests against APD. She said doing that before.” got me here,” he said. she thinks the police need to be Some demonstrators said the Florian also said he wanted to held accountable for their actions protest on March 30 influenced protest what he believe is the exces- and that they need to stop justifying their decision to attend Friday’s sive use of force by APD in general. their fatal shootings of people such protest. He said he hoped the movement in as Boyd. Grant Florian, a UNM graduate Albuquerque could go beyond just a “We’re bound and determined student studying anthropology, said local police brutality issue. that there is going to be change,” he had friends who had been tear “I hope this can translate into a she said.
have rallied to back the city’s police. Albuquerque residents on Sunday gathered in front of the APD headquarters to defend the department and to dispute protesters’ claims that the department
is particularly violent. About 300 people attended the event. Mark Manary, president of the Albuquerque Lodge No. 1 Fraternal Order of Police, a local organization for law enforcement rights, said his organization attended the
APD’s defenders show support downtown by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
After several recent rounds of protests against the Albuquerque Police Department, supporters
Ardee Napolitano/@ArdeeTheJourno / Daily Lobo Santiago von Straussburg, a UNM student studying computer engineering, waves the American flag in front of the Albuquerque Police Department headquarters at a pro-APD rally Sunday. About 300 people gathered in front of the building to support the department and to dispute claims made in recent weeks by APD protesters that the police department is excessively violent.
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rally to insist that APD is not a killing machine. “Obviously, any police department — whether it’s Albuquerque or anybody — don’t bring violence,” he said. “We’re a peaceful organization. The problem is you got citizens who arm themselves and then try to hurt other citizens or police officers. That’s when escalation of force happens.” Manary said APD protesters haven’t yet seen the whole picture. “You can’t just look and see one video on TV and think to yourself, ‘Oh my god, this video looks bad,’” he said. “You have to, first of all, realize that we aren’t putting the videos out there, the media is. And the media is going to put things out there in a way that’s going to look favorable or not favorable to the way it should be.” Santiago von Straussburg, a UNM student majoring in computer engineering, waved a United States flag during the rally in support of APD. “They’re doing a good job for the city, and, honestly, they need our support,” he said. “Most people don’t really know why they were at the protest last week. I brought a flag because the flag was completely disgraced by the protesters … It was not a pretty sight.” Von Straussburg said APD officers’ fatal shooting of James Boyd was justified because Boyd was armed with knives.
“Many of the times that they have to defend themselves, they will defend themselves,” he said. “If there’s an armed individual and the situation calls for it, they will use their better judgment to take care of the situation. Most of the time it’s completely justified.” On March 16, Albuquerque Police Department officers shot and killed 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. Von Straussburg said police’s use of tear gas on protesters on March 30 was warranted because they were disturbing civilian operations that day. Haley Tethal, a UNM fine arts student, also showed up to support the police. She said protesters should have expressed their complaints against APD more civilly. “I think they’re doing a good job,” she said. “You can call them if you need help, and they’re always going to be there for you … I just think that this could be done differently to get their message across.” Manary said he urges protesters to be more informed about APD before voicing their complaints in the streets. “Don’t come out here and protest against law enforcement without knowing everything,” he said.
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