First, there was the colonoscopy story. Now this, in which a cop opens fire on a minivan full of kids:
Several New Mexico State Police officers are under investigation after at least one of them fired shots at a minivan full of children last month.
According to KRQE, an officer pulled over Oriana Ferrell in Taos for going 71 mph in a 55 mph zone on Oct. 28. Ferrell had brought her five children from Tennessee on an educational trip.
Dashcam footage obtained by KRQE late last week shows Ferrell and the officer arguing over the ticket before she drives off. The officer chases the mother down and pulls her over again.
The second traffic stop eventually escalates into a struggle, with the officer trying to pull the African-American mother out of the vehicle and her 14-year-old son getting out to defend his mom. But the boy returns to the minivan after the officer aims a Taser at him.
“Sir, I pulled back over, I didn’t run away,” Ferrell pleads at one point. “You see my children. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just trying to take them to the Rio Grande.”
Eventually both the mother and the son struggle with the officer before getting back in the minivan. The officer then uses his baton to smash the passenger side window where the 14-year-old boy is sitting.
As the family attempts to flee, a second officer fires at least three shots at the vehicle.
I guess “driving while black” is an offense everywhere.
The state’s going to have to take ownership of this fiasco. For Christ’s sake, we’re the land of enchantment. We take pride that this isn’t Arizona or Tejas. For a state who’s number one industry is tourism, these latest news stories paint a pretty fucking ironic picture. Apparently, martial law was declared and Susanna the Tejana forgot to inform the rest of us. New Mexico: come for the anal probe, stay for the shoot out.