Man shot during protest over Spanish conqueror’s statue in New Mexico

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Louise Thomas

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One man has been shot amid protests in New Mexico as crowds attempted to dismantle the bronze Spanish conquistador statue positioned outside the Albuquerque Museum.

Albuquerque authorities, who have now announced steps to determine the statue’s fate, added that the man was in a critical but stable condition.

The city has announced that the statue of Juan de Onate would be removed until officials determine the next steps.

A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue of Juan de Oñate before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.”

One protester repeatedly swung a pick axe at the statue’s base before gunshots could be heard down the street seconds later.

Video shared online showed protesters attempt to tackle the alleged shooter, a white man who was later apprehended, before crowds dispersed amid screams.

Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said police used tear gas and flash bangs to protect the officers who intervened and detained those involved in the shooting.

The police spokesman said that the suspects were disarmed and taken into custody, whilst detectives investigate what happened with the help of the FBI.

“The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement.

“Our diverse community will not be deterred by acts meant to divide or silence us. Our hearts go out the victim, his family and witnesses whose lives were needlessly threatened tonight. This sculpture has now become an urgent matter of public safety.”

Democrat governor Michelle Lujan Grisham criticised the individuals concerned in a statement, and said that armed individuals were a menace to protesters.

“The instigators this evening will be rooted out, they will be investigated, and they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” she added.

The violence came just hours after activists in northern New Mexico celebrated the removal of another Oñate statue on public display at a cultural centre in the community of Alcalde.

Onlookers cheered as local authorities removed the bronze Oñate statue, seen as an affront to indigenous Americans and racial equality, and placed it into storage.

New Mexico’s Oñate statues have long been criticised because the Spanish conquistador, who arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598, is known to have ordered violence against native people.

The events come as statues and monuments across the US are dismantled and discussed amid protests against systemic racism and police brutality following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody last month.