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# Native Artist Shot in New Mexico at Rally Over Colonizer Statue
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/native-artist-shot-in-new-mexico-at-rally-over-colonizer-statue/
- Published: 2023-09-29T21:54:15.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:15:43.000Z
- Description: Activists in Española had peacefully gathered to protest a monument of Juan de Oñate when Jacob Johns was allegedly shot by a man wearing a Trump hat.
- Author: Elaine Velie
- Tags: News, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-large, #Import 2025-11-24 09:29 (2023, 2024, part 1)

A Native activist was shot in the town of Española, New Mexico, yesterday, September 28, during a protest of a statue of Juan de Oñate, the 16th-century Spanish governor of New Mexico who launched a [war](https://www.npr.org/2020/07/13/890122729/statues-of-conquistador-juan-de-o-ate-come-down-as-new-mexico-wrestles-with-hist?ref=hyperallergic.com) against the Acoma Pueblo. Suspect 23-year-old Ryan Martinez was taken into custody for allegedly shooting and injuring Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O'odham climate activist and artist.

Native activists from groups including the [Red Nation](https://therednation.org/about/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [NDN Collective](https://ndncollective.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com), and [Three Sisters Collective](https://threesisterscollective.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) [arrived](https://apnews.com/article/controversial-statue-new-mexico-shooting-dd3b5c671544044dc83eb8bedb480320?ref=hyperallergic.com) Tuesday and camped overnight at the town plaza where the statue was slated to be installed in front of the sheriff’s office. The sculpture has long been a contentious issue in the small city of Española, and the work was taken down in 2020 after protests demanding its removal. The city decided to place the monument back on view and [scheduled](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=707134454783787&set=a.225722112925026) the rededication ceremony for Thursday, September 28.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/09/onate.jpg)

The Oñate statue before it was removed in 2020 (via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Equestrian%5Fstatue%5Fof%5FJuan%5Fde%5FO%C3%B1ate.jpg?ref=hyperallergic.com))

Faced with a growing number of protestors at the site, the city said in a statement on Wednesday, September 27 that it had reserved a space for the activists. Later that day, the city [announced](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=710999691063930&set=a.225722112925026) it would postpone the event "due to unforeseen circumstances."

The protestors placed offerings at the foot of the pedestal where Oñate's likeness was expected to be placed. They taped signs to the cement base reading, "We don't want Oñate; say no!" and "Leave us alone; quit invoking trauma!"

Photographs of the scene show Martinez wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat and standing amongst the gathered crowd. He [reportedly](https://apnews.com/article/controversial-statue-new-mexico-shooting-dd3b5c671544044dc83eb8bedb480320?ref=hyperallergic.com) began arguing with the activists and police asked him to leave. A chilling [video](https://www.koat.com/article/onate-statue-rio-arriba-county-espanola-shooting/45362174?ref=hyperallergic.com) shows the moments before the shooting. Martinez attempted to reenter the protesters’ space, but after crowd members physically prevented him from doing so, Martinez jumped over a short wall, pulled a [handgun](https://apnews.com/article/controversial-statue-new-mexico-shooting-dd3b5c671544044dc83eb8bedb480320?ref=hyperallergic.com) from his pocket, and fired into the crowd, hitting Johns in the chest. Martinez [reportedly](https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local%5Fnews/sheriffs-official-ids-suspected-shooter-in-violence-at-planned-site-of-o-ate-statue/article%5F631b4766-5d63-11ee-a392-db0eabb068dc.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) drove away in a white Tesla. 

The Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office took Martinez into custody shortly after. The agency has not yet responded to *Hyperallergic*'s request for comment.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2023/09/gettyimages-1706543383.jpg)

Demonstrators were gathering peacefully when a counter-protestor charged the gathering with a gun and opened fire, wounding an attendee. (photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The victim, Jacob Johns, is described in a [GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jacob-johns-recover-from-terrorist-shooting?utm%5Fcampaign=p%5Fcp+share-sheet&utm%5Fmedium=copy%5Flink%5Fall&utm%5Fsource=customer) page launched yesterday as a muralist and musician specializing in “non-violent, peaceful ‘artivism.’” Johns was airlifted to the hospital and received surgery, from which he is recovering. The campaign has raised over $64,000 so far.

"Although we are seeking justice for our brother, we cannot negate the fact that this community has been re-traumatized by an act of terrorism at a peaceful assembly, a gathering in which we were exercising our First Amendment rights," Native activist group Three Sisters Collective wrote in a [statement](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxw1RP1u1vO/?ref=hyperallergic.com).

An eerily similar [incident](https://hyperallergic.com/571384/albuquerque-museum-new-mexico-demonstration/) occurred in Albuquerque in 2020\. Activists had assembled to remove an Oñate statue there, and after a confrontation, a man was shot, allegedly by members of the right-wing militia New Mexico Civil Guard.