An agitator opened fire on a prayerful celebration in Tewa Territory (Española, New Mexico) shortly after 12PM local time on Thursday, September 28. This was a premeditated act of violence. The agitator shot Jacob Johns (Hopi and Akimel O’odham) in the torso. Johns was protecting a peaceful group of community members assembled at the Rio Arriba County Annex Building, along with half a dozen community peacekeepers. The gunman was heard saying “let’s do this” to a small group of men immediately before opening fire. At the time of the shooting, community members were celebrating a postponement of the reinstallation of a Juan de Oñate statue that was previously removed from Alcalde, New Mexico on June 15, 2020. Rio Arriba County officials planned to reinstall the statue on Thursday morning in its new location in front of the county annex building, but postponed the reinstallation after community members and activists mounted pressure earlier in the week. News of the postponement came as a relief to organizers, who turned the planned peaceful protest into an impromptu peaceful celebration with speeches and a community feed.
