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Vigil, rally held to commemorate community member killed by APD
By Madeline Pukite @maddogpukite
On Saturday, Feb. 5, a rally and vigil brought together the family of Valente Acosta-Bustillos as well as community members to commemorate his legacy. A descanso, or a cross, was placed in front of his house where he was fatally shot by Albuquerque Police Department officer Edgar Sandoval in March 2020. This event allowed for not only a time and place to grieve but also highlighted ongoing issues of police brutality. The gathering was organized by the family of Acosta-Bustillos and community activists involved with the Albuquerque branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. It served as both a time for family members to talk about their memories of him and as a call for the charging and arrest of officers Sandoval and Joseph Bush. “We're here to honor your father with your family and our community. We will continue to fight for justice for Valente, and (for) officers Edgar Sandoval and Joseph Bush (to) be fired and charged with murder,” PSL organizer Ramona Malczynski said. On March 30, 2020, officers San-
doval and Bush were sent by a family member to make a wellness check on Acostas-Bustillos after family had been unable to get in touch with him for nearly a week and he hadn’t reported to work. During the check, the officers discovered that he had an outstanding warrant and attempted to arrest him. They forced their way into his home, and, after a failed tazing attempt by Bush, Sandoval fired twice at Acosta-Bustillos initially, then, after he didn’t go down, several more times at him. Acosta-Bustillos was transported to a hospital following the shooting, where he later died from the gunshot wounds. Sandoval said the shots were fired in self-defense as Acosta-Bustillos was carrying a long shovel throughout the encounter and made several attempts to swing it at the officers, according to a prosecutorial review. This review determined there was not sufficient evidence to prove the officers were not acting under belief of “the threat of great bodily harm.” “They used force to threaten him and manipulate him and to scare him. They're here to protect us, not let us live in fear of them,” Acosta-Bustillos son Rafael Melendez said.
Shelby Kleinhans / Daily Lobo / @BirdsNotReal99
The family of Valente Acosta-Bustillos stands next to a covered descanso at a rally/vigil in Albuquerque on Saturday, Feb. 5.
Acosta-Bustillos’ family wore shirts in his memory, adorned with individualized messages on the back that expressed their remorse. “My dad would want us to remember the good things,” Acosta-Bustillos’
Albuquerque rated best big city for filmmakers for fourth year By Natalie Jude &
Tina Memarian @natalaroni @DailyLobo For the fourth year in a row, Albuquerque has taken the title of MovieMaker Magazine’s No. 1 place for filmmakers to live and work under the big cities category, which considers primarily production statistics, economic growth, housing prices and quality-of-life ratings. Many New Mexico film profession-
als vouch for the state’s booming industry and unique charm, happy to be part of such an unusually familial production hub. Cyndy McCrossen, a film liaison for the Albuquerque Film Office working primarily in location management, has benefited financially from Albuquerque’s thriving film scene. She contributed to the proposal submitted for consideration in MovieMaker Magazine’s annual location ranking, and, though it was never her plan to enter the film industry, she is grateful to be part of it and doesn’t plan to leave.
”It wasn’t part of my game plan to be in the film industry … (but) it’s allowed me to have a high salary. Film workers make much higher than the norm in New Mexico so it’s really fortuitous,” McCrossen said. The New Mexico film industry provides approximately 9,000 jobs each year, according to a New Mexico Film Office press release sent out last summer. It said that in the fiscal year 2021, of the crew, cast members, and background and extras working under productions registered with the New Mexico Film Office “approximately 75% of total below-the-line crew were
daughter Veronica Ajanel said. Ajanel talked about how he always took her out for dinner on her birthday and recalled one year where Acosta-Bustillos took her out three times during her birthday N.M. residents with an average wage of over $56,000 annually” as compared to the national film industry average of approximately $51,000. Fred Tepper, a special effects trailblazer, moved to Albuquerque in 2009 and has since fused himself into the local film community. Now working primarily on the playback effects for “Roswell, New Mexico,” he plans to stay busy with New Mexico-based projects for as long as he can. With past credits on visual effects and animation teams for more than 50 productions, including “Titanic,” “Dogma,” “Daybreak” and “Better Call Saul,” Tepper has found a home in the tightly-knit circle of Albuquerque’s film professionals as well as the plethora of versatile filming locations. “All the people I work with are great. They know what they’re doing and the attitudes on set are great,” Tepper said. “(Plus) we can do New York, we can do the desert, we can and we have several times done the surface of Mars.” McCrossen is also rooted in New Mexico for a variety of reasons
week. Melendez spoke about how he was a loving grandfather among many other things. “He could go up to the biggest person and still make them lose their breath when he hugged them. That's how much love he had to give,” Melendez said. With no justice received yet for Acosta-Bustillos, PSL is aiding the family in continuing to advocate for him. “They're amazing people (PSL) — they were encouraging. I just love the way they work and organize stuff, and they gave me more strength to go out there and speak for not just myself, not just for my dad … everybody out there in this,” Melendez said. A few community members also spoke during the gathering, including local carpenter José Enriquez who talked about the prejudice against working-class individuals like Acosta-Bustillos, who was a construction worker. He said working-class minorities, specifically Latinx workers, are often vilified by the police. “People who are poor and have to work are targeted as criminals,” Enriquez said. “We are not criminals. We are trying to work hard to provide for
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Vigil page 2
and cited the quality of life, the beauty of the state and the diverse, unique culture. “I feel that Albuquerque is primed for culture and cultural activities. In this town, it’s something I grew up surrounded with — creators and creation,” McCrossen said. “We know how Albuquerque is but we want the rest of the world to know, too.” In the last decade, Tepper has met many out-of-state professionals who flew into New Mexico for work and stayed upon wrapping, enamored by the distinctive culture. Just in the last month, he met two traveling filmmakers who took an interest in the state and are contemplating moving to Albuquerque. Outside of community and pay, Tepper finds accessibility to be one of the greatest draws of Albuquerque as the traffic in Los Angeles, where he used to live, was a major issue. “The whole state is easily accessible and it’s not too big,” Tepper said. “It’s small enough to be manageable … (but) we still have
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Filmmakers page 2
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