The Protest Shooting in Albuquerque

Hat tip Beltway Report and John Cardillo



Steven Baca backing away from protesters. (That is apparently pepper spray in his right hand.)


The nationwide unrest took another ugly turn Monday night when a shooting occurred in Albuquerque, New Mexico as protesters were trying to tear down a statue of a Spanish conquistador during a "prayer vigil". Counter-protesters identified as the New Mexico Civil Guard (not National Guard)  showed up. Reportedly some of them were armed. When it was over, one protester was shot, and a man named Steven Baca was taken into custody.

What is newsworthy here is that the media and local political leaders are treating this as an unwarranted attack on peaceful protesters (Peaceful other than destroying public property.) Vigilantism, some are calling it. It is not so simple, however.

Here is how the Albuquerque Journal described it.

So according to the videos shown by the Journal, Baca shoved a woman to the ground who was trying to block him from advancing to the monument. That is what sparked the assault on Baca by other demonstrators.

The Beltway Report has a cell phone video taken by one John Carrillo, which shows Baca, after using what is reportedly pepper spray to hold his attackers off,  being chased down the street by protesters, at least one whom was threatening to kill him. Baca was on the ground and being beaten with a wooden object, described by one source as a skateboard, when he drew a weapon and shot the man beating him.  The video can be seen here.

Well, there is a lot to sort out here, but there apparently are no heroes in this story. The protesters were trying to destroy public property, which is apparently just fine and dandy in today's America, and Baca shoved a woman to the ground. According to some sources, Baca had a concealed carry permit, but I cannot confirm this. The central point is this: Did Baca have a legitimate fear for his life? The Carrillo video suggests that he did. When multiple people are chasing you down the street saying they are going to kill you, and you are on the ground being beaten by a skateboard(?), is it legitimate to claim your life was in danger? We will be hearing a lot more about this in the days, weeks and months to come.

The moral of the story is perhaps that everybody should have stayed at home.