Officers during the confrontation used tear gas and flash bangs to protect the officers who intervened and detained those involved in the shooting, Gallegos said. He said they were disarmed and taken into custody for questioning as police worked to secure the scene. He said detectives were investigating with the help of the FBI.

“The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. “Our diverse community will not be deterred by acts meant to divide or silence us. Our hearts go out the victim, his family and witnesses whose lives were needlessly threatened tonight. This sculpture has now become an urgent matter of public safety.”

Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement taking aim at the armed people, saying they were there to menace protesters. She said there is no room in New Mexico for any sort of escalation of what she called “reckless, violent rhetoric.”

“The instigators this evening will be rooted out, they will be investigated, and they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.

LABOR

To Truly Protect LGBTQ Workers, Get Rid of At-Will Employment

By Sarah Jones


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The American boss enjoys immense power over the lives of his workers. At-will employment is one of the clearest examples of this imbalanced relationship at work. In at-will states, employers have the right to fire workers for nearly any reason — barring discrimination on the basis of sex or race. For this reason, collective bargaining agreements for unionized workers usually include just-cause provisions. Just-cause means that employers have to prove a pattern of poor performance over time, which gives workers a chance to improve before they lose their jobs. For vulnerable workers, just-cause is an important barrier to discrimination. Federal law already prohibits an employer from firing someone because she’s pregnant, but in the absence of just-cause, he can cite performance issues, or budget cuts, or the generic need for a new corporate direction, and show her promptly out the door.

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