Call to action
About 150 gather on Plaza to speak out against police violence in black community
Holding signs saying “End White Silence” and “Incarceration=slavery,” about 150 people gathered Sunday on the Plaza to speak out against police violence in the black community.
“We’re here to say that we’re ready to take bold action,” Loveless Johnson III said. “Not to protesting loud or yelling, not tearing anything up, but we are going to hold every elected official in this state accountable to us. Or they’ll be known as former elected officials.”
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber asked the crowd to take a knee with him in remembrance “for those who have died, who have been killed and murdered,” and gave a short speech addressing protests that have erupted nationwide in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while he was in police custody.
“This is the time for anger, this is the time for anguish, this is the time for demonstrations, and this is the time to come together and think about the future we want for our kids and grandkids,” he said.
At the end of his speech as he was walking off the stage, the crowd pressed Webber on his policies, asking “What are you going do?”
“Well, right now we’re following [former] President [Barack] Obama’s lead,” Webber said. “We’re reviewing all of our useof-force policies. We’re going through them with our police department leadership.”
Jake Johnson, who has had a long career in radio and runs a hemp production company, started the New Mexico Justice Alliance Facebook page just over a week ago.
He said the group would oppose the Santa Fe County Commission approving a budget that would allow law enforcement agencies to buy military equipment such as AR-15 rifles.
Michael Davis, who served in the Navy before moving to New Mexico to run his own tech company, said that as a black man he wants to make his voice heard in the community where he built his business.
“Persons of color have to go through a process where they have to negotiate their safety each and every time a cop shows up or an altercation happens,” he said. “We’re all part of this community.”
He said he hopes to see more transparency from government and police.
Emma Underhill, a writer who moved to Santa Fe a year ago, said she was frustrated at the lack of change in the criminal justice system, which she studied in college nearly a decade ago.
“It’s not enough to protest. You have to get out and do something,” Underhill said.