Albuquerque

The Transit Equity Movement Wins Biggest Zero Fare Victory Yet

December 10, 2023 Liam Crisan, Inequality.org. Create! Albuquerque, New Mexico, Racial Justice, Transit Equity, Transportation, Victory

Albuquerque, New Mexico - It’s happening: The city of Albuquerque is permanently eliminating public bus fares, becoming the largest U.S. city to embrace this critical step toward racial and economic equity. A coalition headed by Together for Brothers — a community organizing and power-building group led by and for young men of color — made the victory possible. In an interview with Inequality.org, the group’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Christopher Ramirez, explained that it all started in 2017 when Together for Brothers applied for a Health Impact Assessment grant. “When we were applying for the grant, we had a couple sessions with the young men of color we were working with,” Ramirez said.

Police Department That Kills Highest Rate Of Unarmed Citizens

December 5, 2014 Max Blumenthal, www.alternet.org Educate! Albuquerque, Ferguson, police brutality

A damning report released this April by the Department of Justice concluded that the “Albuquerque police department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional use of deadly force.” It went on to accuse members of the department of having “shot and killed civilians who did not pose an imminent threat of serious bodily harm or death to the officers or others.” The report singled out Wallace for killing Gomez when "no one's life was in danger and an APD negotiator was on his way to the scene.'' When I visited Albuquerque this October, local civil liberties activists explained the city’s plague of lethal police violence in a broader context of racism and economic inequality. The legacy of settler-colonialism and its echo in the immigration crisis has cultivated an atmosphere of racially charged brutality.

Albuquerque Creates Citizen Police Oversight Agency

September 22, 2014 La Jicarita, lajicarita.wordpress.com Create! Albuquerque, Police

During a five-hour special meeting on Thursday, September 18, the Albuquerque City Council abolished the existing Police Oversight Commission and unanimously passed an ordinance creating the Civilian Police Oversight Agency. Since 2010 the Albuquerque Police Department has killed 27 people. An April 2014 Department of Justice report of APD’s use of force concluded that APD routinely engages in unconstitutional policing and that a majority of recent fatal shootings were unjustified. Days after the release of the DOJ report three members of the existing Police Oversight Commission—Jonathan Siegel, Richard Shine and Jennifer Barela—resigned in protest.

Protest In Albuquerque Over Killer Cop Competition

August 29, 2014 David Correia, www.wordpress.com Resist! Albuquerque, Militarization, Police, Protest, Violence

A group of anti-police violence activists and family members of victims of police violence gathered at City Hall yesterday to demand Mayor Berry cancel the “Killer Cop” competition scheduled for next month. The Albuquerque Police Pistol Combat Tournament is designed to test efficiency in the lethal techniques that police use. Protesters claim that it celebrates militarized policing and the use of lethal force, and are demanding that the competition be shut down. A letter to the mayor signed by family members of victims condemns his insensitivity to the human cost of police violence. Family members emerge from City Hall after trying to deliver the letter to the Mayor. After the press conference, family members went to the 11th floor of City Hall hoping to tell the Mayor why he should cancel the police shooting tournament. They found the offices closed, the doors locked and police guarding the foyer outside the elevator. Once again, Mayor Richard Berry refused to meet with grieving families of victims of his police department. Sylvia Fuente’s son Len was killed by APD. “This militarization of police must stop,” she said. “My son didn’t have to die. And the Mayor says he’s met with family members of victims. He’s lying. He hasn’t met with me. I haven’t met a family member he’s met with.”

Albuquerque Activists Hold ‘People’s Trial’ Of Police Chief For Brutality

June 23, 2014 Rory Carroll, www.theguardian.com Resist! Activism, Albuquerque, Police, Protest

Activists in Albuquerque have held a march and a “people's trial” of the city's police chief, to protest dozens of fatal police shootings. Hundreds rallied in the New Mexico city on Saturday, some carrying fake tombstones, to denounce what they called a culture of police brutality and official complicity. It was the latest event in a vocal campaign demanding reform of a police department which has recorded 40 shootings, 26 of them fatal, since 2010. Reforms are expected to be announced in coming weeks, following a Department of Justice report in April which detailed a pattern of excessive, unreasonable use of deadly force against residents. Marchers said they needed to continue to pressure local authorities to prevent more officially justified shootings. “They say ‘justified’! We say ‘homicide’!” they chanted, as they gathered at Roosevelt Park.

The Albuquerque March To End Police Brutality

June 21, 2014 Wendy Davis, www.firedoglake.com Resist! Albuquerque, Police abuse, police murder

Remember the are doing this for all of us: It wasn’t until a couple hours ago when I saw the photo of the coffin inscribed with the all of the names of those killed by the Albuquerque Police Department that the tears in my eyes brimmed over, and thought that I needed to share this with you. For background, please read here, here and here. My admiration for these folks is extreme; they are in this important social movement for the long haul; their tactics have been precise and thoughtful; their social gospel unyielding and it is spreading among New Mexican citizens, and garnering international attention as well. I know all of our spirits are with them in solidarity, both today, and in the future.

ABQ: Choatic Protest Intensifies Campaign Against Police Violence

June 5, 2014 Rory Carroll, www.theguardian.com Resist! Albuquerque, police brutality, Protest

Activists in Albuquerque have vowed to continue confronting city authorities over police shootings a day after they occupied the mayor's office, prompting chaotic scenes and 13 arrests. The arrests and detentions on Monday night marked a hardening response by authorities to a campaign which has demanded radical reform of the New Mexico city's trigger-happy police department. About two-dozen activists staged a sit-in at the office of Mayor Richard Berry, triggering acrimonious exchanges with officials and the suspension of a city council meeting before guards and police hauled them away. It was the third time in recent weeks that the city council has been disrupted. “We're going to be in this administration's face until we feel safe in our city,” Ken Ellis told the Guardian on Tuesday. “This community is in fear of its police.” Ellis' 25-year-old son was shot dead by police in 2010. The arrested activists spent the night in jail and were charged with criminal trespassing, unlawful assembly and interfering with a public official or staff.

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