ALBUQUERQUE – Part of downtown Albuquerque remained closed Monday after protest along the historic Route 66 turned violent overnight when a group of people set fires and officers said shots were fired at them.
The officers reported that the shots were fired in front of the historic Kimo Theater after a mostly peaceful demonstration disbanded, said Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos. No injuries were reported.
There was damage to several properties in the area, including broken windows, some looting and small fires, he said.
Police deployed emergency teams to the downtown area to “stop people who are vandalizing property and causing violence against police,” Gallegos said.
Police on Monday morning were warning people that some areas were still cordoned off as businesses began to clean up.
On Sunday, a large crowd marched down Route 66 in protest of the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The protesters held signs, wore masks and chanted: “Say his name: George Floyd” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
When the crowd arrived on the western edge of downtown Sunday evening, they stopped and held a moment of silence for Floyd that was followed by cheers.
Activist Arthur Bell, 35, told fellow demonstrators he was “tired of being peaceful.” He said his black skin makes him a target for police, and he is fed up with that situation.
Bell told protesters there will be another demonstration Monday evening in front of Albuquerque Police Department headquarters, but that rally will be “different.”
When The Associated Press asked Bell what he meant, he said: “A general never gives out his tactics.”
