Riots Come To Albuquerque

Above, a tear gas canister in Albuquerque is fired to disperse an unruly crowd last night.

The rioting has now made its way into Albuquerque.

According to the Albuquerque Journal:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A peaceful Sunday night protest in Downtown Albuquerque erupted into chaos overnight as rioters fired shots at police, broke windows at several buildings and set multiple fires. There were also reports of some looting. 

“At this time there are no reports of injuries,” Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in an early morning email. He said APD deployed emergency response teams to a large portion of Downtown to stop those who were vandalizing property and getting violent with officers. 

Officers reported that someone fired shots at them in front of the Kimo Theater on the 400 block of Central. The aggression toward police didn’t stop there. 

Protesters taunted officers, shouting profanities at them. At one point, one man threw what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail toward police, though it didn’t hit anyone. 

A helicopter circled above after midnight ordering the group of 80 to 100 to disband or be arrested as two columns of police in riot gear, one at Second and Central and the other at Third and Central tried to break up the crowd. The riot police on Third and Central threw perhaps as many as six canisters of teargas at the group.

Since New Mexico is an open-carry state, maybe we should start openly carry as a deterrent or, if necessary, assist law enforcement and protect innocents.

To read more, go here.