Jaquise Lewis Shooting

Two witnesses speak about ABQ mass shooting

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The events of March 22, 2015 that culminated in the death of an Albuquerque teenager didn’t begin at Los Altos Skate Park. They began when a group of friends threw a barbecue for Jaquise Lewis three miles south of the skate park at Manzano Mesa Park, according to two witnesses who recently spoke to New Mexico Political Report about the shooting. While Albuquerque police say an investigation into Lewis’ death is ongoing and maintain that no one from his group is cooperating, both witnesses said police haven’t contacted them since the night of the shooting. © New Mexico Political Report, 2015. Contact editor@nmpoliticalreport.com for info on republishing.

Albuquerque Newsdesk

Family of slain teen questions TV report of shooter

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A man who claims he killed Jaquise Lewis in the March 22 Los Altos Skate Park shooting spoke anonymously to KOB-TV last week. The TV news segment featured the man’s silhouette and didn’t release his identity “because he has not been charged with a crime, and police have not finished their investigation.” The report described him as a 22-year-old father. In the report, the man said he carries a gun with him everywhere he goes. He used it that night, according to what he told KOB, when he saw an argument over a skateboard escalate into gunfire. The man said he saw 17-year-old Lewis shoot two people.

Albuquerque Newsdesk

DOJ to look into APD’s use of federal training

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The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to take a look into the Albuquerque Police Department’s participation with the Department of Energy at at a federal facility. This comes months after Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., voiced concern about the police department’s use of the DOE’s National Training Center, which is located at Kirtland Air Force Base. There, Albuquerque police took part in training and in some cases instructed courses using controversial methods. Grisham released a statement today about the matter, saying that she raised concerns in February to DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz about whether Albuquerque police “should have access to the facilities and classes used to train special DOE police forces to protect the nation’s nuclear stockpile.” She mentioned that for a year, Albuquerque police “has been under a consent decree with the DOJ” following the federal agency’s report that the department had in several cases violated law by using excessive force.

Albuquerque Police Department

CABQ & APD out of step with community press corps | by Margaret Wright

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Margaret Wright is an Albuquerque-based journalist who is a former managing editor of the Alibi and co-founder of the New Mexico Compass. Margaret has also worked as a teacher, social worker and waitress and is currently a reporter with the New Mexico Political Report. On Friday evening, Gilbert Montaño, the City of Albuquerque’s deputy chief administrative officer, was on the phone to make amends. “Moving forward, I’d be happy to sit down and chat,” he told me. “We’re not isolators when it comes to media.

Featured

Demonstrators gather outside the District Attorney’s office (video)

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On Monday, a small group of demonstrators gathered out side the District Attorney’s office in Albuquerque. The group held up signs denouncing the Albuquerque Police Department for recent a string of fatal shootings by police. Tina Kachele of Albuquerque was one of the demonstrators and said she was there to show solidarity with the victims of the recent shootings.

Albuquerque Police

DA: Albuquerque Police Officers Charged with Murder in Shooting of Homeless Man

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[button icon=”tags”]Analysis & Opinion[/button]
“The process of healing also needs to include the pursuit of truth, not for the sake of opening old wounds, but rather as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity,”  Pope Francis, speaking on Jan. 12, 2015 in Sri Lanka
Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg has charged two Albuquerque police officers with murder for the shooting of a homeless camper in the city’s foothills in March of 2014. Read the Criminal Charging Documents Here:
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Before officer-involved shootings in Ferguson or New York sparked local and national protests, Albuquerque residents were struggling with a string of officer-involved shootings in their own city. James Boyd was the 26th person shot by Albuquerque police since 2010. There have been 15 others since.