There's been a lot of news lately about the numerous deadly encounters between the Albuquerque police and residents, and there's been some news about police infiltrating protests to end police violence in Albuquerque.
One of the recent killings by APD was that of Alfred Redwine. He was shot the very day of one of the mass protests to end police violence in Albuquerque, and his autopsy results were released the other day. They showed Redwine had been drinking, his blood alcohol was .27 or more, according to toxicology reports. But other than that, he wasn't on psychoactive substances. He'd been reported to police by a neighbor as having a gun and waving it around in a public housing project apartment. The apartment was that of Redwine's mother. There is some dispute over whether Redwine ever fired the gun -- some witnesses say he did, others say no.
According to Redwine's sister -- who was negotiating with her brother via cell phone -- Redwine was terrified to come out of the apartment once the police got there because he was afraid they were going to kill him. Which they did.
He would not be allowed to surrender, any more than James Boyd was allowed to surrender nine days before. The very act of attempting to surrender seems to be considered a terrorist threat by APD, and at least until recently, it has been taken as a reason for summary execution.
Witnesses claim that Redwine was not armed when he was shot and killed by an APD sniper, he was holding a cell phone and was attempting to talk to his sister who was urging him to come out of the apartment and surrender. The police claimed he was holding a gun and had fired at them when he was shot, but witnesses say that's a lie. There is no police video of the moment of the shooting from the point of view of the shooter, though there is video of the shots being fired, of Redwine on the ground after he was shot, and of the confrontation between Redwine's sister and police, but witness video is inconclusive regarding whether Redwine was armed or fired a weapon before he was shot. Redwine's sister says that the police found a gun in the apartment after they shot him, and that is the weapon they claim he fired at them just before they shot him. She and many other witnesses say he was holding nothing but a cell phone at the time he was shot.
Who is telling the truth?
The demonstration on Saturday was surveilled by undercover police officers, one of whom, according to KRQE reports, a crime intelligence unit sergeant, shot and wounded a suspect in 2012. In this interview with Rob Perry, Albuquerque CAO and "the man who oversees APD" Perry asserts many things, insults and disparages the interviewers, and claims that the only thing he knows the undercover officers filmed was an incident in which a protester was removed from the march -- or rally -- by march security, not the police.
Is he telling the truth?
Rob Perry is not known for his honesty, though he can be... forthright. Bullying. Disingenuous. Obstreperous. Rude. Condescending.
Dishonesty?
You decide.
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