Going Viral Again: Photo Captures Latest Sensational Violence As Protestors Poke At Ancient Racial Divide Netting Tragedy

Eddie Moore, ABQ Journal

They say a picture tells a thousand words but the one captured Friday by ABQ Journal photographer Eddie Moore at an Española protest turned violent does much more.

It takes us back 400 years to the beginning of the state's racial divide when Spanish Conquistadors invaded Native lands unleashing violence that reverberates today; then it rushes us into the Wild West era as the outlaw gunman (minus his MAGA hat that had fallen off) pulls out a concealed pistol and fires into the crowd; next--as we look into his eyes and see something amiss--we're transported to the modern era where a ceaseless wave of violence enabled by an explosion in guns and drugs continues unabated and where the mental health system and law enforcement have both failed miserably in their assigned tasks.

Yes, it's a world-class photo. Sadly, it will become an iconic image of our time. 

As that photo rocketed around the globe notably silent was Governor Lujan Grisham. She did not have to say anything. The shooter brazenly pulling his gun from under his sweater and firing was exactly what she was talking about when she stepped on a political minefield by declaring a public health emergency because of gun violence and that banned the carrying of concealed weapons in ABQ.

Most oppose the order and will continue to do so (it was put on hold by a federal court) but her causation for that order suddenly stood on firmer ground Friday as the shock of video of the gunman suddenly pulling out his gun and firing at close range froze the debate in place. 

If there was ever a time for her not to say "I told you so" it was Friday afternoon as the scab of a divisive history was again pulled off the state causing yet more blood to flow. 

CRIME TIME

Crime, of course, will be a hot button issue heading into next year's election cycle. It's already being highlighted by former law enforcement officer and Republican Paul Cunningham who announced last week he will seek a rematch with Dem state Rep. Joy Garratt in District 29 on ABQ's westside, Reader Michael Hays gets into the fray:

Cunningham’s campaign seems misdirected. Whether his issue is a matter of police policy or policing, the issue is a city matter. The state legislature cannot control policing in Albuquerque. If Cunningham wants to address either the policy or practice of policing in the city, he should run for a city, not a state, office. Even so, as one sympathetic to “law enforcement” he is not likely to be someone who can or would even want to reform the city’s police force, which is, as everyone well knows, out of control, with excessive use of force its paramount feature.

GABE'S GUNS

Reader Jim McClure writes of southern NM Dem US Rep. Gabe Vasquez and guns: 

Joe, the only question about Gabe Vasquez’ position on the Gov’s gun order is whether his re-election campaign will feature a commercial of him shooting a gun, as former Rep. Xochitl Torres-Small famously did.   

Like Vasquez, Torres Small was also a liberal Dem who tried to redefine herself in a more conservative vein but was defeated after a single term by Yvette Herrell. Herrell was ousted by Vasquez in 2022 and the two are expected to meet in a rematch in '24.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023