Trump to send federal agents to ABQ, as local leaders object By Matthew Reichbach New Mexico Political Report
P
resident Dona ld Tr ump a nnounced that the White House will send more federal
Gallup Sun Publishing, LLC Publisher/Editor Babette Herrmann Office Manager Raenona Harvey Accounts Representative Sherry Kauzlarich Associate Editor Beth Blakeman Photography Knifewing Segura Ana Hudgeons Ryan Hudgeons Cable Hoover Correspondent/Editorial Asst. Cody Begaye Dominic Aragon On the Cover The Velasco family. TOP left: Robert, Ryan, and Trina; right: Robert, Daniel and Trina. BOTTOM left: Trina, Robert, Gina, and Daniel; right: Gina, Arthur, Leander, Dee, and Sparky. Photos courtesy D. Velasco The Gallup Sun, published Fridays, is not responsible or liable for any claims or offerings, nor responsible for availability of products advertised. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Gallup Sun distributes newspapers in McKinley, Cibola and Apache counties. Office: 102 S. Second St., Gallup, NM 87301 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gallup Sun, PO Box 1212, Gallup, NM. Mailing Address: PO Box 1212 Gallup, NM 87305 www.gallupsun.com Phone: (505) 722-8994 Fax: (505) 212-0391 gallupsun@gmail.com Letter to the editor/guest column ACCEPTED BY EMAIL ONLY. State full name and city/town. No pen names. ID required. All submissions subjected to editor’s approval. Guest columnists, email Sun for submission requirements.
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agents into Albuquerque, citing the city’s high violent crime rate. Trump said the deployment of agents to cities “plagued by violent crime” is part of what he called Operation Legend.The federal government had already sent agents to Kansas City as part of the program. He said state and local officials should accept the federal law enforcement officers. “They should call, they should want it,” Trump said. “They’re too proud or they’re too political to want it.” U.S. At tor ney Genera l William Barr said that they would send 35 agents to Albuquerque, with more going to Chicago and 200 already in Kansas City as part of the operation. The agents would
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Friday July 24, 2020 • Gallup Sun
come from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, To b a c c o, F i r e a r m s a n d Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations team. Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales III attended the White House announcement. “We will never defund the police. We will hire more great police,” Trump said. “We want to make law enforcement stronger, not weaker. What cities are doing is absolute insanity.” Much of Trump’s announcement focused on Chicago, another city which will see an influx of federal law enforcement through the federal government’s operation. Trump also announced that the federal government would provide $61 million in grants to cities as part of the program to
hire more police officers. Operation Legend is named after LeGend Taliferro, a fouryear-old who was shot and killed while sleeping in Kansas City, Missouri in late June. Trump cited the 2019 killing of Jacque Vigil as a reason why the White House directed federal law enforcement to Albuquerque. Vigil was shot and killed in her driveway, and the case remains unsolved. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller criticized the move. “We always welcome partnerships in constitutional crime fighting that are in step with our community, but we won’t sell out our city for a bait and switch excuse to send secret police to Albuquerque,” Keller said in a statement Wednesday evening. “Operation Legend is not real crime fighting; it’s politics standing in the way of police work and makes us less safe.” Vigil’s widower, Sam Vigil,
spoke and thanked Trump for his actions. Keller said his heart went out to Vigil and everyone else who has been a victim of violence in the city. A lbuquerque Pol ice Department chief Michael Geier wasn’t confident the state would see any of the promised grant money in a timely fashion. “We are still waiting on the $10 million Operation Relentless Pursuit funding that was promised last year to help us with our goal to hire more officers and to bring in additional federal law enforcement agents to assist us in our crime fighting efforts,” Geier said. “While I will try to remain optimistic, I won’t hold my breath until we see all this actually come to fruition.” Operation Legend is separate from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security program
TRUMP | SEE PAGE 27
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