Sweet Justice: APD Settles Case In Arrest of BLM Organizer, Now He Talks With APD On Race

Published March 4th, 2021 at 8:02 am, Last Updated March 4th, 2021 at 8:14 am

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Watch this story today. Members of Congress hurried to finish their work late Wednesday night, a day earlier than a normal Congressional workweek. Why? The US Capitol Police and federal agencies believe there is some credibility to a “possibly plot” by pro-Trump extremists to again breach the Capitol on March 4th (today).

Why today you ask? In the bizzaro Q world in which they live, Trump was supposed to make a surprise comeback on inauguration day in January, arrest Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, and be sworn in for another term (maybe for life). But when that didn’t happen, they reinterpreted their theory and discovered that March 4th was inauguration day until 1933, so that must be the secret day Trump is planning and it’s their job to be ready. Trump, of course, has yet to dissuade them from this insane and dangerous idea so Congress is again locked down and under armed guard just in case.

In our own capitol building in Santa Fe, the governor signed new legislation helping some New Mexicans get a new round of relief checks from the state (read to see if you are one of them) while legislators push forward a bill to limit the governor’s executive power.

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“Whatever happened to…” Our feature story today (also in print at more than 150 newsstands around town. Go get one!) comes from contributor Jonathan Sims.

You might remember last summer when armed militia-types and Black Lives Matter protesters faced-off in dueling events on Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza. The real news wasn’t the protests but how APD handled them. APD gave white men armed with rifles warnings to put their guns away but detained and cited Black BLM organizers who had brought their own.

A city hall that loves to send press releases didn’t bother to send one about this. They settled with him and one other BLM organizer similarly cited but the story doesn’t end there.

That young man has become a confidant and advisor to the new police chief and he used his settlement money to fulfill a long-held promise to his grandma.

This is a great story of race, justice and barbecue that will (hopefully) make you both angry about how we handled the recent past and hopeful for the future of APD, BLM and our local leaders behind both.

The Sweet Taste of Justice

By Jonathan Sims

Oddly enough, the sweet taste of justice can be found served up in the Southern-style backyard barbeque at Grandma’s House BBQ in northeast Albuquerque. […]

This is exactly the type of independent, local journalism we’re proud to bring in The Paper. Too often, news outlets get caught up in covering the next big thing and don’t take time to look back at what happened to some of those big stories.

If you love local journalism like this, please consider being a donor. 100% of reader donations go to Jon and all of the independent journalists who bring you these stories each week.