On Monday, June 15, 2020, during a peaceful vigil for victims of police killings and brutality, a member of an armed white nationalist group violently threw a woman to the ground, assaulted two other women and shot and wounded another man. The shooter is Steven Ray Baca Jr., a former city council candidate and the son of a sheriff, who has affiliations with the heavily armed civilian militia group called the 'New Mexico Civil Guard'.

During a peaceful protest on Monday night in Albuquerque, the crowd attempted to remove a statue of Juan de Oñate, a Spanish colonizer who is responsible for unspeakable cruelty and genocide towards the Keres people of Acoma Pueblo and other Native Americans. Hours prior to the assaults and shooting, protesters faced off with the New Mexico Civil Guard toting enormous guns and counter-protestors toting "All Lives Matter" signs.

During the attempted removal of the statue, Steven Baca grabbed a women by her arm and violently threw them to the ground, then assaulted several other women, which led to him being chased down by protesters. He finally fired 4 shots into the direction of protesters, seriously wounding a man named Scott Williams.

The Bernalillo County District Attorney's office dropped shooting charges against Steven Baca due to "police mishandling and need for further investigation". The only charge that Baca currently faces related to the shooting is unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, as he did not have a concealed carry permit. Afterwards, 20 guns were detained from four people suspected to be involved in the shooting. 

Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez says that he has "serious concerns that an initial police investigation into the Monday shooting failed to identify who owned multiple guns found at the scene, nor interview key witnesses and police".

We, the people of Albuquerque, of Bernalillio County and of New Mexico, DEMAND that Steven Baca be charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon as well as assault of a number of other protesters. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has denounced the New Mexico Civil Guard for instigating violence, as well as an effort being made to investigate and label this civilian group as a terrorist organization. We are asking that the DA's office prosecute Steven Baca to the highest extent of the law.