◆ Arrest made as state police take over investigation of violence at Albuqueqrue protest.

Former City Council candidate faces felony charge after shooting

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller on Tuesday said New Mexico State Police is taking over the investigation into a high-profile shooting that wounded a man during a protest Monday night and led to the arrest of the suspect and several armed members of a self-described civil militia group.

A criminal complaint for Steven Ray Baca Jr. says a group of people at the protest — in which demonstrators called for the removal of a public statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate — “maliciously” pursued him before he fired shots that injured Scott Williams.

Keller, speaking at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, emphasized the complaint was just a preliminary report and did not reflect all the details of the case.

Baca is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a felony. Keller said he was still in custody as of Tuesday.

Baca was once a candidate for the Albuquerque City Council and is the son of a former Bernalillo County sheriff, the Associated Press reported.

The shooting prompted the city of Albuquerque to announce the Oñate monument at the center of the protest would be removed until officials determine their next steps, according to the AP.

Hours before the Albuquerque protest, plans for a similar event at the site of an Oñate statue in Alcalde prompted Rio Arriba County officials to remove the monument and place it in storage for protection. No violence erupted at the rally there after the 3-ton bronze statue was taken down from its perch at a heritage center.

The Albuquerque shooting came amid heightened tensions Monday night as protesters attempted to tear down the Oñate statue at the Albuquerque Museum. They met with opposition from people trying to protect the artwork, including armed members of a group that calls itself the New Mexico Civil Guard.

According to the criminal complaint, cellphone video obtained from a bystander shows Baca trying to move away from a crowd that was pursuing him.

Baca’s interaction with the crowd before that time is “unknown,” the complaint says, though other video of the incident shows a man who fits Baca’s description acting aggressively toward demonstrators as he attempts to stop them from toppling the statute with rope.

The criminal complaint says the bystander’s video shows one man, and then another, using a skateboard to hit Baca.

Baca, armed with a black semi-automatic handgun, fired four shots, the document says.

The victim, later identified as Williams, had “multiple gunshot wounds to his torso,” the complaint says.

Williams’ lawyer, Laura Schauer Ives, said his family believes “if Scott was not there, then somebody else would have been shot” because of the escalating violence at the scene.

“Scott took bullets for the community he cares very much about,” she said.

Albuquerque police Chief Mike Geier said during the Tuesday news conference that officers arrested Baca and several members of the militia, though it was unclear if he was associated with the group.

Police confiscated more than a dozen guns and 34 magazines of ammunition from the militia members.

Keller said the demonstration began peacefully before members of “outside groups” showed up to intimidate the crowd.

Geier and police Cmdr. Art Sanchez said officers followed proper procedures when it came to responding to the shooting, including the use of tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd to “secure the scene” so paramedics could help Williams.

The criminal complaint says police immediately detained Baca — who did not show any signs of being harmed and declined to provide a statement to law enforcement officials.