In honor of International Women’s Day on Sunday, hundreds of protesters caravanned nearly 50 miles from Albuquerque to Jeffrey Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch, demanding justice and accountability for survivors of gender-based and sexual violence. The very next day, the protesters got a partial answer when investigators entered the property.
Because of mounting pressure, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered a search of the ranch with the New Mexico State Police and Sandoval County Fire and Rescue K-9 team. The search came about three weeks after the New Mexico Department of Justice announced it was reopening its investigation into Epstein after it had been shut down by federal investigators in 2019.
Women’s March, a national non-profit organization dedicated to gender equality, organized Sunday’s event as the flagship action in a weekend of more than 250 protests, marches and rallies around the country.
On Sunday morning, the sky was clear and the sun bright in the heart of Downtown Albuquerque, and the parking lot of Plaza Justicia was way too small to fit all the cars lined up to join in the caravan. The overflow spilled onto streets in all directions for a few blocks.
Some of the protesters waited for the start in their cars, but about 200 hung out in the parking lot listening to music and discussing politics and social issues. The atmosphere was high energy, not celebratory, but determined — motivated.
Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March, said they didn’t want a completely somber event.
“The goal was not to be in the position of grief alone,” she said, “but grief as almost a sacred motivator of the anger that so many women feel now, certainly about the Epstein survivors, but we also have some people walking around with the red hand of the murdered and missing Indigenous women. This is a scourge on women, particularly in this area.”
She said her organization’s role is to move people into action rather than providing direct services to victims, but she said that doesn’t mean they are not focused on results.
“I want to see the removal of the predators. I want to see repair,” she said. “I want to see actual tangible resources going into survivors resources, including healing, and restitution
Samia Assed rode shotgun in the car with Carmona. She’s chair of the local New Mexico Women’s March and she said events like Sunday’s have tangible results.
“We want to show that the community is behind women and survivors,” she said “to help them have the courage to find the healing that they need, and the community has to come behind them and believe survivors all the time.”
As people arrived at Zorro Ranch it was striking how normal everything looked. Except for the makeshift memorials and hundreds of protestors — and the masked armed guards at the front gate — the land looked like every other vast high desert landscape dotted with juniper and sagebrush so common across New Mexico.
The caravan was led nearly 50 miles by a large black advertising truck the size of a U-Haul. It cycled through different messages on its sides and back with messages like “"Release the Files,” “Justice for Survivors,” and “Predators Stick Together,” with an image of President Donald Trump with his arm on Epstein’s shoulder.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-New Mexico) represents the district where the ranch is located. She arrived with the family of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who had alleged years of abuse at the hands of Epstein and co-conspirators including former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson before she died last year. Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, told the crowd his family is grateful the state reopened its investigation, and hopeful justice will be served.
“This is what we need to see more of state by state,” he said.”I think New Mexico is taking the initiative. I think the people of New Mexico are demanding answers, they’re demanding justice. It starts here and there's so much more that we can continue to fight for.”
Amanda Roberts, Sky’s wife and Virginia’s sister-in-law, said the people of the U.S. hold more power together, and can cause change when there’s enough collective effort.
“I know we're tired. I know the fight can feel endless,” she said. “But this is the moment we keep going, we keep pushing for every survivor, for every woman and girl who has been silenced, or who has been told 'you should just smile more.' We stand here united in demanding more action from our government: release the files with protections for survivors. We must seek further investigations, and we must bring forth the hand of justice to every co-conspirator and every enabler, everyone who facilitated, participated or covered up these horrific crimes.”
As the crowd waited for speakers to begin, people sang an updated version of “House of the Rising Sun,” called “House of the Epstein Crimes.”
“We must expose this cover-up / of wealthy powerful men, / their cruelties, depravities, in the house of the Epstein sins.”
Soon after Native American drummers performed for the audience until several speakers took the mic, including both of Giuffre’s brothers and Leger Fernández.
“Truth and justice must always walk hand in hand,” Leger Fernández said. “And it is indeed the women of the world, the women who are here today and the men who love us, that are going to make sure that we bring justice and truth and accountability to all those who engage in this heinous activity.”
O’Leary Carmona from Women’s March ended the day by reading a statement from Rachel Benavidez, who said she survived abuse at Zorro Ranch. Benavidez brought up the case of Maria Farmer, who tried to report abuse she said she and her sister suffered from Epstein, but was ignored by the FBI.
“Imagine a world in which Maria's claims made almost three decades ago were taken seriously. How many women and children would never have been harmed?” she said. “On this International Women's Day, I'm asking anyone listening: believe women and children who report predatory behavior, believe that their voices matter and that speaking up takes courage, believe that seeking the truth is essential to creating a safer, more accountable world.”
The following day, the NMDOJ began its search.
The Survivor’s Truth Commission, a recently created bipartisan state legislative body dedicated to investigating allegations of crimes at the ranch, applauded the NMDOJ’s actions. The commission called it, quote, “an important step toward the transparency and accountability that justice demands.”
Support for This Coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
