ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A group of more than 200 demonstrators gathered downtown on Thursday to protest killings at the hands of police. The event highlighted two people shot and killed by the Albuquerque Police Department.
One was Orlando Abeyta, who police say pointed what turned out to be a B.B. gun at them before they opened fire back in January. The other, Valente Bustillos, the man officers shot in March during a welfare check, after they say he raised a shovel.
“People all over the country, including Albuquerque, are saying no more criminality of the police, no more terror of being stopped by the cops,” said organizer Gloria La Riva. “There should be sociologists, there should be mental health workers, there should be negotiators, not police with weapons.”
Earlier this month, the mayor announced there will be a new unarmed force of first responders, trained to deal with situations like mental distress calls.
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