SANTA FE – Seven of the protesters charged with tearing down a historical marker in the Santa Fe plaza last fall have agreed to a diversion program that will spare them jail time, the district attorney said in a statement Thursday.
As part of the deal, they agreed to perform community service and participate in restorative justice mediation.
“The Obelisk case defendants meet the criteria I set out for diversionary programming. We have reached a resolution after months of careful investigation and negotiation between defendants, their attorneys and my office that ensures justice while working toward community healing,” said District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, in a statement citing a promise to divert nonviolent and first-time offenders.
The restorative justice program aims to “shape a resolution that is agreeable to all parties” between defendants and victims, DA spokeswoman Jennifer Padgett Macias said. Police, city employees and other community members will be invited to join the program.
Defendant and art gallery owner Steven Fox did not accept the deal.
About 40 people participated in the destruction of the stone obelisk Oct. 13 as part of a nationwide protest against atrocities committed against Indigenous people.
The monument was erected to honor Union troops who battled the Confederacy during the Civil War and fought with Native American tribes.
One face of the monument honors “heroes” who died in battle with “savage Indians.” The word “savage” was chiseled out by an activist in the 1970s and never replaced.
Statues of Spanish conquistadores long venerated by many in New Mexico’s Hispanic community have been removed from public view in the past year out of fear they too would be destroyed.
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Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.
