Early on Wednesday evening, activists gathered in front of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court to protest the announcement of a mistrial in the case against former Albuquerque Police Department officers Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy.
The protest, though smaller than past rallies against APD, was eventually met with SWAT teams in riot gear, many armed with assault rifles.
Perez and Sandy were on trial for second-degree murder after fatally shooting James Boyd, a mentally- ill homeless man, in the Sandia foothills in 2014. This was the first time in at least 50 years that an on-duty APD officer was charged criminally for shooting a suspect.
The trial ended in a hung jury on Tuesday, with nine jurors voting to acquit and three voting guilty. Raúl Torrez, the incoming District Attorney, will decide whether or not to retry the case when he takes office in January.
Though Wednesday's protest would grow as the evening went on, it never reached the size or scale of the conflict that took over Central Avenue for several hours on an evening in early 2014, when hundreds of people marched against police brutality, and tear gas was used by riot police to disperse protesters.
The protest gained energy and size at 6:20 p.m. when demonstrators — holding signs that read "Justice for James Boyd!,” “Chief Eden is a disgrace!” and “Retry killer cops now!” — blocked traffic in the eastbound, and later, a westbound lane of Lomas Boulevard between Fourth and Fifth street.
Activist Tylina Hardy said people were late to the demonstration because many may not have even known about the murder case against Perez and Sandy, which began more than two years after the killing of Boyd.
Many don’t know what it means that the jury didn’t come to an agreement on the verdict in the case, she said.
“I don’t think people know what a mistrial is. It’s unlikely the case will be tried again,” Hardy said, adding that the new District Attorney is unlikely to re-prosecute the case in light of the accusations and criticism against Kari Brandenburg, the original DA who brought the charges.
Less than an hour after discussion about whether there were enough protesters for a march, Hardy was directing participants to move out of the way of a moving vehicle through a megaphone.
“Move away from the vehicle, so you don’t get hurt!” she said, as one protester jumped onto the front end of a large silver truck that hadn’t completely come to a stop.
Protestors were bumped by a car that slowed down and proceeded to speed up rapidly in a westbound lane on Lomas Boulevard around 6:17 p.m.
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An infuriated driver exited the vehicle to physically confront the group of about 10 protesters that were blocking the car. After the confrontation broke up, the driver got back into the vehicle and drove away, giving the crowd the middle finger.
Protesters marched around the corner and down Fifth Street towards Roma Avenue to find military troops guarding the back entrance of the Regional Correctional Center a little before 6:30 p.m.
Demonstrators also splattered fake blood at the entrance of the Sheriff Department’s steps and front doors.
“We want to send a message to the police that we’re not afraid of you. We’re tired of being killed. We’re not going to take this s--- anymore,” Pelatia Trujillo of Black Ops New Mexico — a local activist group — shouted into a megaphone.
The crowd began to march up Fourth Street back to the courthouse at 6:45 p.m., where a BCSO SWAT truck was stationed.
There were about six SWAT team members stationed at the westbound lanes of Lomas Boulevard.
When dusk began to set, a police SUV drove past the SWAT truck, followed by a city bus that stopped in a westbound lane. Suddenly, police in riot gear poured from the city bus to line up across nearly the entirety of Lomas Boulevard between Fourth and Fifth street.
Chris Banks from the Party for Socialism said APD’s militarized response was “extreme,” adding that officers outnumbered protesters disproportionately.
“APD did the same thing when they murdered James Boyd . . . escalating things and manufacturing a situation in which they could use violent force,” he said.
Protester Arthur Bell dramatically pointed at intimidating riot police holding batons.
“What is this? What is this?” he yelled at a group of news reporters spotlighting him with cameras in the dark.
Bell said at least seven police were armed with AR-15 rifles, while other officers were armed with rubber bullet shot guns.
“Rubber bullet shot guns are a non-lethal use of force. It’s what they should have used on James Boyd,” Bell said.
Around 7:10 p.m. APD tweeted, “Protesters becoming increasingly agitated by the media hype.”
One demonstrator with a megaphone advised the group to march back up to Fifth Street to avoid getting arrested or hurt, as one protester gave out medical masks in case police elected to use tear gas to control the crowd.
“They’re herding us out of here,” one protester said, as riot police marched towards Fifth Street to watch the crowd hurry away.
The crowd accelerated their march to Central Avenue, where they stopped at Eighth Street to occupy the roundabout while helicopters circled above. Police on motorcycles blocked Copper Avenue at Eighth Street.
Protesters began to march back east on Central, briefly blocking the intersection at Third Street. The crowd dispersed at First Street where the protest eventually ended around 8:00 p.m.
Sara MacNeil is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @sara_macneil.
