Man shot after armed group confront protesters attempting to pull down statue in Albuquerque
A man was shot and wounded in the US state of New Mexico after protesters attempting to pull down a statue of a 16th-Century Spanish colonist were confronted by a group of armed men seeking to protect it.
According to local reports, violence erupted in Old Town Albuquerque following a peaceful protest to remove the controversial sculpture, a monument that features conquistador Juan de Oñate.
Monuments linked to colonialism have come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks amid Black Lives Matter protests around the world.
A number of statues have been pulled down in the US in the wake of African-American George Floyd’s death at the hands of white police officers in Minnesota.
Many protests have been peaceful, but the removal of statues has often faced fierce rebuttal.
In Albuquerque, clashes broke out when protesters took a pick axe to the statue and members of the heavily armed New Mexico Civil Guard, a civilian group, tried to protect the monument.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that a man was pushed to the ground before shooting five rounds at advancing protesters. The man who was shot appears to have been one of the individuals advancing on the man on the ground.
People could be seen sprinting to take cover after the shooter opened fire. Albuquerque Police Department’s Emergency Response Team was deployed following the shooting.
The man was taken to hospital but his current condition is not known.
Mayor Tim Keller tweeted that the city would be “removing the statue until the appropriate civic institutions can determine next steps”.
“The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” he added in a statement.
“Our diverse community will not be deterred by acts meant to divide or silence us. Our hearts go out to the victim, his family and witnesses whose lives were needlessly threatened tonight.”
