NM Militiaman Allegedly Shoots Protester in Standoff Over Statue

The most recent scene of protesters trying to topple a statue — this considered one of a Spanish conquistador — exploded in violence when an armed civilian militia allegedly opened fireplace on a New Mexico protester.

The militia — an extremist group referred to as the New Mexico Civil Guard — was standing guard Monday over a statue of Juan de Oñate in entrance of the Albuquerque Museum. A gaggle of protesters had gathered with the objective of taking it down … as we have seen occur not too long ago in a number of cities.

At one level, witnesses advised police that someone swung a pickax on the base of the statue … and that is when pictures rang out and other people had been screaming somebody had been shot.

The sufferer was hit by one bullet, and fellow protesters huddled round him as he was laid out on his abdomen. Ultimately, EMTs arrived to deliver him to a hospital … he was later listed as being in important however steady situation.

As for the militia, those that had been dumb sufficient to stay round got here face-to-face with members of precise legislation enforcement — who proceeded to take a number of of them into custody.

Tear gasoline and flashbangs had been used to include the state of affairs and to detain the armed males — whom cops say had been disarmed by the point they had been accomplished with them. It is unclear if police caught the precise shooter … and the FBI’s already been looped into the investigation.

Bear in mind, protesters efficiently dismantled a number of statues of Civil Conflict figures and Christopher Columbus throughout the final 2 weeks. All of these incidents went down peacefully … which means, nobody tried to guard the statues.