Citizens Attempt to Arrest Police Chief at City Council Meeting
“We now serve a people’s warrant for arrest on Albuquerque Police Chief Gordon Eden.”
Citizens attempt arrest of police chief at council meeting
Angry protesters took over Albuquerque City Council Monday night, calling for immediate change at APD, the ousting of Albuquerque’s Mayor, and attempting to arrest Police Chief Gordon Eden.
Approximately 40 protesters, fed up with the number of Albuquerque residents who have been killed by police in the past 6 weeks, took over a city council meeting and produced a “people’s warrant” for the arrest of Police Chief Gordon Eden, who then fled the scene, according to reports.
You are walking away from justice,” protester David Correia shouted from the council podium.
Council President Ken Sanchez immediately halted the meeting, and most city employees fled the chambers as protesters swarmed the speaker’s podium and took over the dais where councilors sit.
Then a new meeting started.
The protesters – often shouting and chanting into the council microphone – called for a series of votes and announced they had unanimously agreed on votes of “no confidence” in Mayor Richard Berry and his top administrator, Rob Perry.
There were also chants of “Fire Gorden Eden” and a healthy dose of profanity. The informal meeting lasted about 30 minutes, then protesters went outside and broke up quietly.
City councilors weren’t happy.
Sanchez said he adjourned the meeting because of safety concerns. He tried calling a brief recess at first but then couldn’t restore order to restart the meeting.
“This is no longer your meeting, this is the people’s meeting,” protester David Correia, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico, said into a commandeered microphone as shown in the KRQE video below. “We now serve a people’s warrant for arrest on Albuquerque Police Chief Gordon Eden.”
This type of action is incredibly heartening! As more and more people refuse to accept such brutality, we will begin to see some very real change.
