Demonstrators climb the statue of Don Juan de Onate in Old Town in Albuquerque (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal/AP)A man has been shot during a confrontation between protesters and a group of armed civilians trying to protect a statue of a Spanish conquistador outside Albuquerque Museum. The city has announced that the statue of Juan de Onate would be removed until officials determine the next steps. Moments later, gunshots could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. In 1998, someone sawed the right foot off the statue — an incident that weighed in the decision to stash away the statue. Luis Pena of Espanola, an artist and computer network engineer, started a public petition last week to remove the statue in Alcalde.

Source: Irish Independent June 16, 2020 07:07 UTC