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World 25
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
Man shot during protest over Spanish
conqueror’s statue
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
(AP) - A man was shot Monday
night as protesters in New Mexi-
co’s largest city tried to tear down
a bronze statue of a Spanish
conquistador outside the Albu-
querque Museum, prompting the
city to announce that the statue
would be removed until officials
determine the next steps.
The man was taken to a
hospital but his condition was
not immediately unknown, said
Albuquerque police spokesman
Gilbert Gallegos.
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
pickax at the base of the statue.
Moments later a few gunshots
could be heard down the street
and people started yelling that
someone had been shot.
Gallegos said police used tear
gas and ”lash bangs to protect the
of”icers and detain those involved
in the shooting. He said they were
disarmed and taken into custody
for questioning as police worked
to secure the scene. He said
detectives will be investigating but
he did not immediately release any
other information.
“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.”
The violence came just hours
after activists in northern New
Mexico celebrated the removal
of another likeness of Oñate
that was on public display at a
cultural centre in the community
of Alcalde. Rio Arriba County
of”icials removed it to safeguard
it from possible damage and
to avoid civil unrest ahead of a
scheduled protest.
A forklift pried the massive
bronze statue of Oñate on
horseback from a concrete
pedestal. Cheers erupted among
bystanders who saw the memorial
as an affront to indigenous people
and an obstacle to greater racial
harmony, though several people
also arrived to defend the tribute
to Oñate.
County Manager Tomas
Campos said the statue was placed
in storage for its own protection.
He expects the three-member
county commission to solicit
public comment on what to do
next with the public works project
commissioned by the state in the
early 1990s.
“This is public property and
I’m not going to allow it to be
damaged,” Campos said. “Plus, I
don’t feel like risking my sheriff’s
deputies or state police to defend
it.” The Oñate statues have been a
source of criticism for decades.
Oñate, who arrived in present-
day New Mexico in 1598, is
celebrated as a cultural father
”igure in communities along the
Upper Rio Grande that trace their
ancestry to Spanish settlers. But
he’s also reviled for his brutality.
To Native Americans, Oñate is
known for having ordered the right
feet cut off of 24 captive tribal
warriors that was precipitated by
the killing of Onate’s nephew. In
1998, someone sawed the right
foot off the statue - an incident
that weighed in the decision to
stash away the statue.
Luis Peña of Espanola, an artist
and computer network engineer,
started a public petition last week
to remove the statue in Alcalde.
He said he was heartened to see it
taken off display.
“It’s about time,” he said. “I think
people are ”inding their voices. ...
They can enact change and start
the process of picking up all this
trash that has been lying around
for decades.”
Police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, in Albuquerque. PHOTO: AP
Travellers accused of breaking
quarantine set to leave Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) - Twenty-one trav-
ellers arrested on suspicion of vio-
lating Hawaii’s coronavirus quaran-
tine order have agreed to leave the
state because of threats, a member
of the group said on Monday.
Kendra Carter said some of the
harassment involved death threats.
“People started rolling up to our
house calling us all types of names.
Telling us to starve and a whole
bunch of stuff. We’ve been getting
death threats in our inboxes,” Carter
said. “People telling us to get off
the island.”
Carter wasn’t arrested with the
others last week because police
decided to let her and another
woman stay with their children.
Arresting them would have
meant calling child protective
services, which would have meant
exposing more people, Hawaii
County police Lieutenant Rio
Amon-Wilkins said.
The group’s members spent two
years travelling Central America and
are misunderstood, Carter said.
“People like to call us a cult
because we like to live a certain
lifestyle,” she said about their vegan
diet and a belief that “everybody
France backtracks from ban on
chokeholds by police
PARIS (AFP) - The French
government has suspended a
ban on chokeholds by the police,
a technique that has been widely
denounced by Black Lives Matter
activists at rallies against racism.
The ban was announced
last week after demonstrations
spurred by the death of George
Floyd in the United States (US), a
black man who pleaded “I can’t
breathe” as an of”icer kneeled on
his neck.
But the move sparked
File photo of Director General of the French National Police Frederic
Veaux (R). PHOTO: AFP
is different shades of brown.”
Carter said the group didn’t realise
that Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day
quarantine on all people arriving in
the state would be strictly enforced.
Court documents said members of
the group were seen at a beach
park on June 8.
A video posted on YouTube
showed their leader, Eligio Bishop,
petting a sea turtle, police said in
the documents. Bishop, 38, plead-
ed no contest on Monday to the
quarantine violation, said Hawaii
County Prosecuting Attorney Mitch
Roth. “We take our quarantine and
our safety very seriously,” he said.
“We’re not going to tolerate people
violating the law.”
The group “probably spent
more time in jail on their trip to
Hawaii than they spent outside of
jail,” Roth said.
Bishop’s attorney, Evans
Smith, couldn’t immediately be
reached for comment. Attorney
Donald Wilkerson, who represents
two other men arrested with the
group, said the other cases will be
dismissed but would be re”iled if
they return to Hawaii and violate
the quarantine.
furious protests from police
unions, who said the long-used
technique was essential for
ensuring officers’ safety, and
accused the government of
failing to appreciate the perils
of their work.
“While awaiting a clari”ication
of the new framework and when
circumstances require it, the
technique known as a chokehold
will continue to be used with
restraint and discernment,”
national Police Chief Frederic
Veaux said in a letter to staff on
Monday, seen by AFP.
In particular, the technique
can be used when a person resists
arrest or threatens an of”icer or
other people.
Veaux said a commission
would be set up today to
begin working on possible
“substitution techniques”,
with recommendations due by
September 1.