Albuquerque police have been on a
racist shooting rampage that has outraged the community. According to
the Albuquerque Journal there have been 18 police shootings since
January 2010 resulting in 13 deaths. The great majority of the
victims have been young Latino men. As a result, over 50 community
activists and family members of victims of Albuquerque police
shootings rallied at Civic Plaza on June 14 to demand that Mayor
Berry and Police Chief Schultz take action to end police terror in
Albuquerque.
One by one, family members and
community supporters spoke movingly about the loss of life of the
victims and the importance of continuing the movement for justice.
City Councilman Rey Garduno addressed the crowd and called upon
everyone there to stand strong and continue to organize and fight
back against the current status quo of police terror.
Eric Gomez, the brother of 22-year-old
Alan Gomez, who was fatally shot in the back on May 12 while walking
away from police, called for a continuation of the struggle. “I’m
here committed to this movement. If we stick together, we can do
something about this. They will never have any idea what they took
from our family.”
ANSWER Coalition organizer Lisa
Santillanes, whose unarmed cousin was murdered by APD on Oct. 1,
2009, called for a intensification of the struggle. “If we fight
back against these killer cops, and stand united, we will win. Chief
Schultz has to go. These racist killings have to stop! We need an
independent investigation of the police that represents our community
and we need to take back our city.”
Organizers confirmed at the rally that
a citywide community meeting would be coming up soon in order to
reach out to others who have been victims of police brutality to
strengthen and build the movement for justice.
