Free Republic

Six members of a private militia group who claimed their constitutional rights were violated when they were arrested after a protest turned violent at Tiguex Park in June 2020 will receive $300,000 to drop three lawsuits they filed against the city of Albuquerque, its top officials and Albuquerque police. The city agreed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the group in 2021 as well as two other lawsuits alleging the city failed to turn over public records about the incident in violation of the state Inspection of Public Records Act. Still pending at the time of the...

A NM state court judge has outlawed the New Mexico Civil Guard from publicly acting as a military unit without authorization or assuming the role of law enforcement by using organized force at public protests or gatherings. Granting a motion by Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez, District Court Judge Elaine P. Lujan also banned such activity by the group’s directors, officers, agents, employees, members and any of their successor organizations and members. Torrez, the Democratic candidate for state Attorney General, said on Monday that the decision, “fundamentally represents a victory for the rule of law…. We’re trying to prevent...

WAGON WHEEL – Bryce Provance scratches combat formations into the dry earth as four others – camouflaged in bulletproof helmets and vests – watch intently. Each man holds a high-powered rifle tight to his body with a pistol and several magazines often ready on his hip. You would never guess it by looking at them, but they’re thousands of miles from the nearest battlefield. These are members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, the group that made international headlines for its heavily armed presence at an Albuquerque protest that culminated in a shooting last month. “The world is a scary...