At a protest against a planned statue of a Conquistador in northern New Mexico, a man wearing a trademark red MAGA hat pulled out a gun and opened fire on the crowd, wounding one man, the Associated Press reports. Prior to the shooting, the suspect identified himself to a local newspaper photographer, who took a harrowing picture of the suspect firing.
According to witnesses, 23-year-old Ryan Martinez of Sandia Park, wearing a MAGA cap, went to the protest organized by Native American advocacy group The Red Nation to stop the relocation of a statue of conquistador Juan de Oñate to outside an official county building and was confronted by a man at the periphery of the group. A scuffle ensued, leading to Martinez hopping over a barrier and then pulling a gun, firing one shot and hitting a Native American man in the torso.
Martinez fled the scene in a white Tesla, but was soon apprehended by sheriff’s deputies. It’s unclear if he’d been charged. A Facebook page reportedly belonging to Martinez–it features photo of the man matching his description standing in front of a white Tesla and flashing a holstered handgun–featured in the bio, “Fuck The Chinese Communist Party and Fuck Joe Biden. TRUMP WON. (pre-law major).”