The historic KiMo Theatre along Route 66 in downtown Albuquerque sustained heavy damage from rioters early Monday after mostly peaceful protests on Sunday.
According to a report by the Associated Press:
Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said officers reported shots fired at them in front of the historic Kimo Theater early Monday after a mostly peaceful demonstration disbanded. Gallego said there was damage to several properties in the area, including broken windows and some looting.
“(Albuquerque police) deployed Emergency Response Teams to a large portion of downtown to stop people who are vandalizing property and causing violence against police,” Gallego said. “Shots were fired at police on (Route 66).”
The New Mexico Route 66 Association issued statements on Facebook about the demonstrations and the damage. It wrote:
The KiMo and other damaged businesses downtown have suffered a severe setback following a tremendously difficult three months of being forced to close. Today many of these businesses were to open again as our state begins to rebuild itself after COVID19. Because of these few bad people who have no regard for others, some of the businesses may close for good. Let’s hope not though. This would be a loss for both the business and the community.
Here are the full statements from the association below:
The theater put out this statement Monday afternoon:
The pattern of rioters showing up after mostly peaceful protests also has been observed in other cities including Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Minneapolis, where it all started with the death of an African American resident after a police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. The cop — who was criminally charged days later — and three other officers have been fired.
The KiMo Theater was built in 1927 in a rare Pueblo Deco architectural style. A fire severely damaged the structure in the 1960s, but Albuquerque residents voted in 1977 to purchase the theater and restore it. It hosts plays, movie screenings, dance performances, discussions with artists and other events.
(Image of a classic truck cruising down Route 66 in Albuquerque near the KiMo Theatre in 2015 by Karen Blaha via Flickr)
probably didn’t steal a thing….just meanness
These ‘people’ are little more than home-grown urban terrorists. They certainly terrify those who choose not to join them in their destruction of both private and public property. I doubt if these evil criminals set fire to their own cars, or wreck their own homes.
Sad to read this about the KiMo theater. I have no doubt the community will come together to get this historical theater repaired. Thank you Ron for keeping this site current. My and aunt and I are doing a route 66 tour this September and hopefully everything will be open by then. So looking forward to our 2 weeks on the road!