Free Republic

I am so angry writing this that it is hard to know where to begin. So, let’s start with the facts. The Albuquerque Police Department has killed 26 people since 2010 and wounded 40 more. To put this into perspective, this is twice the per capita rate as New York City and eight times the rate of Chicago. Walter White killed as many people as the Albuquerque police have! This news is disturbing and infuriating at the same time. The people in Albuquerque are not safe, but it isn’t because of regular street thugs–it is because of thugs with badges....

Protesters advocating for drastic changes within a police agency criticized by the U.S. Justice Department over its use of force put the embattled police chief “on trial” during a rally Saturday. […] The Police Department is under scrutiny for over 40 police shootings—26 of them fatal—since 2010, and the Justice Department has issued a harsh report over the agency’s use of force. …

Veterans with serious heart conditions, gangrene, and even brain tumors waited months for care at the Albuquerque VA hospital, a whistleblowing doctor tells The Daily Beast. Add Albuquerque, New Mexico’s to the growing list of VA hospitals accused of keeping secret waiting lists to hide delays for veterans seeking medical care. And it may already be too late to get to the truth and find out what harm, if any, was done to veterans there—VA officials are already destroying records to cover their tracks, a whistleblower inside the hospital tells The Daily Beast. Last month, word broke that the Department...

Albuquerque police promoted a commander who was accused in a lawsuit of burning off part a homeless man’s ear with a stun gun, officials announced Thursday. Albuquerque Police Department Chief Gorden Eden said in a statement he was promoting two Albuquerque commanders to the newly created rank of major in response to a harsh U.S. Justice Department report that was critical of Albuquerque police’s use of excessive force and demanded the agency adopt a number of reforms. Foothills Area Commander Timothy Gonterman and Criminal Investigations Commander Anthony Montano will now oversee the East and West Side Field Services Divisions respectively,...

There is something very, very wrong with the Albuquerque, New Mexico police department, and the citizens have just about had enough. Before I get into the heart of this story, I need to provide you with a little background. The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is well known for its outrageous and inappropriate use of violence. So much so that it has been under investigation by the Department of Justice, which wrote a letter to the Mayor of Albuquerque on April 10, 2014 condemning the police force. Here’s an excerpt from the letter: Based on our investigation, we have reasonable cause...

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday released a scathing report in response to a series of deadly police shootings that pointed to patterns of excessive force by the Albuquerque Police Department, serious constitutional violations and a lack of training and oversight of its officers. After more than a year of reviewing hundreds of cases handled by the Albuquerque police, the federal agency found that officers too frequently used deadly force on people "who posed a minimal threat" and used a higher level of force too often on those with mental illness.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from a studio that refused to photograph a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony, letting stand a New Mexico high court ruling that helped spur a national debate over gay rights and religious freedom. The justices left in place a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling last year that said Elane Photography violated New Mexico’s Human Rights Act by refusing to photograph the same-sex ceremony “in the same way as if it had refused to photograph a wedding between people of different races.” …

Hours after hundreds protested the Albuquerque Police Department’s use of force Tuesday evening, officers opened fire on a man near Central and Coors. The man died at the hospital, police said Wednesday morning. He becomes the 23rd man since 2010 shot and killed by Albuquerque Police, which is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for its use of force Neighbors at the scene of Tuesday’s shooting were shocked and outraged. They said officers shot the man while he was unarmed and talking on a cellphone. A video shot by a neighbor appears to show a man in a...

Mayor Richard Berry called it “horrific” and “unsettling.” Several city councilors – on both sides of the aisle – said they were disturbed by what they saw. The American Civil Liberties Union, a former district judge and the governor also weighed in. Each called for a thorough, independent investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department’s shooting of a mentally ill homeless man, James M. Boyd, who was caught illegally camping in the Sandia foothills last week. Video released by APD on Friday showed officers firing at the man, who was armed with two knives but appeared to be turning away from...

Mayor Richard Berry can’t keep the “COPS” television crews out of the Albuquerque area. But he made it clear on Tuesday that he doesn’t want to see the city’s name, its officers or its neighborhoods on the show. Producers can also forget about help from Albuquerque’s film office. City attorneys fired off letters Tuesday to Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston and Langley Productions Inc. to make the city’s position clear. It has been more than a decade since “COPS” was filmed in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Then-Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez banned “COPS” from working with APD in 2001, and Berry...

(snip) The story unfolds: Traveling by commercial airlines from Albuquerque, NM to LasVegas,NV, (Police Chief) Harger was asked by TSA to show his credentials. Minutes later a man flashed a badge claiming to be a federal agent (agency unknown) also demanding to see Harger’s credentials. (snip) The following morning, Harger was informed by Sheriff Douglas C. Wood of Sandoval County, New Mexico, that Harger was to dismantle the Jamez Springs Police Department. (be sure to click through and read the whole thing)

A Vietnam veteran has taken aim at Duck Dynasty products on sale at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center store in Albuquerque, and it looks like all the items in his cross hairs will be removed from the canteen's shelves. Robert Anderson is one of many people upset over a magazine interview in which Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson made comments they found racist and homophobic. In the January issue of GQ, the 67-year-old TV patriarch calls homosexuality a sin, comparing it with bestiality. Robertson, who is white, also claims that African-Americans he knew during the Jim Crow era in the...

Why didn’t Albuquerque vote for the late-term abortion ban? Why would they? People won’t value life if they don’t know they’re valued by God. If we’re just the result of an accident, what difference does partial birth abortion make? None, really.

Last night, pro-lifers received some disappointing news when a ballot proposal that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks in Albuquerque was rejected by the voters by a 55–45 margin. There are relatively few clinics that perform late-term abortions nationally, but one of them is located in Albuquerque. Since 20-week abortion bans have polled well nationally, local pro-life activists saw this municipal ballot proposal as a creative way to circumvent the New Mexico state legislature, which historically has been unreceptive to pro-life laws. Pro-lifers should not despair about Tuesday’s loss, for a couple reasons. First, there’s a substantial body of...

After a monumental battle that saw national pro-life groups and abortion supporters engage in a furious fight in the state of New Mexico, voters in Albuquerque today defeated the nation’s first city-wide ban on late-term abortions. Initial results from 50,000 early and absentee ballots showed 56 percent of voters against the proposal, while 44 percent supported the ban on most abortions after 20 weeks. The totals from voters casting ballots on election day didn’t change those percentages much and, with 28 of 50 precincts tallied, the vote remained 55-45 against the ban. Some pro-life advocates are asserting the results are...

After months of a fierce campaign between pro-life advocates and abortion campaigners, who have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into keeping late-term abortions legal, voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico decide today whether or not they will ban abortions after five months. The ban would have far-reaching effects, as it would prohibit abortions at Southwestern Women’s Options, a notorious late-term abortion facility that kills unborn babies by shooting them through the heart with poison. It is considered the largest late-term abortion facility in the United States. “It’s very troubling, very barbaric, very unnecessary procedure that the public needs to [talk]...

“Just sit on the toilet. You don’t have to look at anything.” These are the words our undercover investigator – 27 weeks pregnant, with a big belly – heard on January 14, 2013. The setting was Southwestern Women’s Options, in the heart of the late-term abortion capital of the United States — Albuquerque, New Mexico. The investigator was seeking a late-term abortion – the sort only a few facilities, including Southwestern Women’s Options, will do. The counselor told her how the procedure is done: how the abortionist would stab her abdomen with a needle containing digoxin, a heart-stopping poison. How...

How would you like to stay at a hotel where in the room next door an aborting mother was delivering her dead baby into the toilet, and where the abortionist came to complete the abortion and wrap and remove the dead baby? Worse, how would you like to stay in a hotel room where a late-term abortion was committed the night before? Where a mother delivered her dead baby on your toilet, in your bathroom, with all the blood and body secretions that come with it? Where the abortionist had the mother lie on your bed to finish it? Do...

You've never seen hot air balloons like this before! A couple of weeks ago, Albuquerque, New Mexico held its 42nd annual International Balloon Fiesta. It's a 9-day event where over 700 balloons see liftoff. It's the largest hot air balloon festival in the entire world and we were on hand to capture the action. Turn the Volume up, HD on and enjoy this Balloon Fiesta Experience! *if you are capable of watching in a higher resolution than 1080p choose original as this film was finished in 4k* Beep.. Beep.. Beep.. The Alarm goes off at 4 am. Time to get...

Albuquerque is pulling a Texas. A coalition of pro-life activists has managed the improbable: They’ve gotten a ballot measure set for a vote on Tuesday that would ban abortions in the city after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Their efforts have drawn national attention — as well as national money — and, if successful, would break ground for the pro-life movement by making Albuquerque the first city in the nation with such a ban. It’s not just about making history, though: According to Politico, the city has two of the few clinics in the country that perform late-term abortions, and the...