Let’s Talk New Mexico 7/30, 8a: The Trump administration announced last week that it’s sending 35 federal agents to Albuquerque, saying they’ll fight violent crime as part of Operation Legend. But exactly what that means is unclear, and many people fear the agents will crack down on protestors, or target immigrants or low-income, largely Brown and Black communities that have borne the brunt of some past police operations. This week on Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll talk with elected officials and community organizers about this deployment of federal agents, and we want to hear from you.
Are you concerned about the presence of these agents and what they might do? How do you think violent crime should be addressed in Albuquerque? What do you think about the way these federal resources are being used during the pandemic? Email letstalk@kunm.org with your comments or concerns, or call in live during the show.
Guests:
- John C. Anderson, U.S. Attorney, District of New Mexico
- Arthur Bell, community activist
- Tim Keller, Mayor of Albuquerque
- Justine Teba, co-founder of the Pueblo Feminist caucus within The Red Nation
- Raúl Torrez, District Attorney, Bernalillo County
About Operation Legend:
- Response from U.S. Attorney To Mayor Keller On Operation Legend (7/28/20)
Mayors Demand Congress Block Trump From Deploying Federal Agents To Cities (NPR, 7/27/20)
- Letter from Albuquerque Deputy City Attorney to U.S. Attorney on Operation Legend (7/24/20)
- Trump Deploys His Enforcers To Albuquerque - ACLU of New Mexico (7/24/20)
- Department of Justice press release on expansion of Operation Legend (7/22/20)
- Trump Sending Federal Agents To ABQ, Governor To Monitor Any Civil Rights Violations - (Associated Press, 7/22/20)
Related:
- Red Deal - Red Nation policy organizing document
- DA pushes violent crimes to federal court system - Albuquerque Journal
- Crime Trends in Albuquerque, June 2020 - Albuquerque Police Department
Case Closed? How 'Solved' Murder Stats Are Misleading - Governing
- Mayor proposes new public safety department - Albuquerque Journal
Barr Testimony: Highlights of Combative Hearing on Protests, Stone Case and More - New York Times
- Why Some Police Departments Are Leaving Federal Task Forces - The Marshall Project, 2019
- Stung in Albuquerque: ATF descends on New Mexico’s largest city with questionable results - NM In Depth series, 2017
- The Invention of the Police - New Yorker
