Richard Berry said one officer was injured, rocks were thrown, and at one point, protesters trapped police in a vehicle and tried to break the windows, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
An Associated Press reporter saw gas canisters being thrown and Albuquerque police and Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies charging at the crowds late Sunday.
Berry didn’t know of any arrests, and multiple messages left for the police department weren’t immediately returned. nt weren’t immediately returned. Video by KRQE-TV shows people being led away in zip-tie restraints, but it’s unclear if those people were arrested or if any protesters were injured.
“We respected their rights to protest obviously,” Berry said, “but what it appears we have at this time is individuals who weren’t connected necessarily with the original protest. They’ve taken it far beyond a normal protest.”
Protesters took to the streets in the early afternoon and stayed out late Sunday after authorities declared an unlawful assembly. People are angry over Albuquerque police’s involvement in 37 shootings, 23 of them fatal since 2010. Critics say that’s far too many for a department serving a city of about 555,000.
