Jacob Johns Calls for Justice and Unity after Terrorist Attack

Jacob's Call for Justice and Unity

Contact: 

JACOB JOHNS - STUDIO1ELEVEN@YAHOO.COM 

Sabrina Chapa Sabrina@tiestolatierra.org

Anthony Diaz Anthony@newarkwatercoalition.org

October 5, 2023

https://www.backbonecampaign.org/justiceandunity

Statement From Community Supported Organizer Jacob Johns Shot Last Week at Peaceful Prayer Circle

A Call for Justice and Unity After Terrorist Attack 

On Thursday, September 28, 2023, a harrowing and racially motivated incident occurred while members of the united states climate action network, members of local Tewa tribes, various Pueblos, Indigenous and Hispano community at large and Española/Rio Arriba County citizens came together for a spiritual convening/ceremony to continue to pray for a favorable resolution against the reinstallation of the Don de Oñate monument in front of the Rio Arriba County Offices.  Invoking prayers from the future to weave a bond of spiritual unity, Jacob Johns (Akimel O’otham and Hopi) a community-supported organizer and member of USCAN was not just a participant, he was invited to deepen his spiritual involvement by partaking in an overnight prayer vigil on Wednesday evening, prior to a larger gathering the next morning.

Statement of Family of Jacob Johns on Shooting

Jacob Johns photo courtesy family

Statement from Family of Indigenous Activist, Jacob Johns, Shot Last Week at Peaceful Prayer Circle

Contact:
Sabrina Chapa Sabrina@tiestolatierra.org

Anthony Diaz Anthony@newarkwatercoalition.org

https://therednation.org/statement-from-family-of-indigenous-activist-jacob-johns-on-shooting/

For generations, Indigenous Peoples have faced harm, death, and systemic oppression. Last week’s premeditated shooting is just another historical event in a series of systemic injustices in Indigenous history. This intentional premeditated act of violence was perpetrated against a peaceful prayer camp located at the proposed site for the reinstallation of the Oñate statue. This draws attention to the lengthy history of injustices against Indigenous Peoples by dehumanizing systems and divisive ideologies the community was protesting.

El Salvador Statement of Solidarity: Oñate was Bloodthirsty Conquistador

Prayerful gathering in Espanola, NM, where Jacob Johns was shot.

 

UNM Statement of Solidarity: No Honor in Onate's Violence

Shrine in Espanola during the prayerful rally on the day Jacob Johns was shot.

UNM Statement of Solidarity: No Honor in Onate's Violence

Dear University of New Mexico and New Mexico community,

September 28, 2023, was a disheartening day for our New Mexico community. We learned that during a peaceful rally celebrating the delay of the re-installation of the Juan de Oñate statue outside a Rio Arriba County building in Española, an unprovoked gunman shot a peaceful protester.

This is the second time a shooting occurred at a peaceful rally against an Oñate statue. The first occurred two years ago in 2021 near Old Town in Albuquerque, when another unprovoked gunman shot and injured a peaceful protester. Here on the UNM main campus, we are pushing for the renaming of Oñate Hall. We should not honor the well-known legacy of violence and trauma.