SOURCE ARTICLE BY AUSTIN FISHER
Protesters cause a disruption during State of the State address on Jan 16. 2024 during the opening day of the legislative session. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source NM)
Protesters disrupted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s State of the State address on Tuesday calling on her and lawmakers to demand a transition away from fossil fuels and a ceasefire in Gaza.
Three separate times, protesters stood up from their seats in the gallery above the House of Representatives where state, local, tribal and federal officials or their representatives had gathered for the governor’s speech to kick off the 30-day New Mexico legislative session.
“Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, legislative leadership, you were elected to represent us. You work for us, not industry,” the first group said from the House Gallery. “We need your courageous leadership. There is a genocide in Palestine. We do not want New Mexico to arm war. We do not want New Mexico to fuel the climate crisis. The people want peace and justice everywhere. Stand up for Palestine. Stand up for a ceasefire now.”
As the first group was speaking out, House Speaker Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque) banged his gavel and called on the sergeant at arms to intervene, and the governor strayed from her prepared remarks to respond to them: “I hope they’re going to be happy later when we talk about all the climate change and renewable energy that we’re bringing,” she said.
Two more groups then added to the disruption, beginning a chant that continued outside the Roundhouse.
“Global warming is a war of the rich on the poor,” the second and third groups chanted. “End the bombing, end the siege. Palestine will be free.”
“I want you to do a round of applause, even though it’s a disruption, the world is complicated,” Lujan Grisham said after the second group. “Far too many young people find themselves locked into a situation where it’s very hard to have clarity about the right steps forward. And rather wouldn’t we all want a situation where we embrace differences of Media
Iopinion, some discord, maybe a disruption or an interruption?”
After each protest, New Mexico State Police and legislative security forcibly removed the protesters from the building, and prevented any of them from returning inside.
“This is a state and this is a country that protects people who don’t share your exact opinion, and I’m very proud of that,” Lujan Grisham said.
In all, more than 100 people traveled from across the state to protest the governor’s speech in Santa Fe, according to a news release published by the activists after the demonstration.
A coalition of progressive groups disrupted Lujan Grisham’s speech. The groups involved include, Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA), Southwest Coalition for Palestine, New Mexico Jews for a Free Palestine, Santa Feans for Justice in Palestine, the Santa Fe Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine, ABQ4Ceasefire Collective, and Northern NM Showing Up for Racial Justice.
“New Mexicans want a just transition to real, proven sustainable energy technologies, we want polluters to be held accountable and to clean up their messes, we want green jobs, we want investment in our future, not plutonium pit production, we want a ceasefire, we want an end to colonization and occupation everywhere,” said YUCCA spokesperson Zephyr Jaramillo.
Jaramillo said protesters are opposed to nuclear weapon productions and fossil fuel extraction.
“We will not stand by and allow those we elected to exclude our voices on the issues that directly impact us,” Jaramillo said. “We demand accountability. We demand true leadership.”
Lujan Grisham said state officials are “not going to have all the answers to the world’s problems, certainly not in today’s speech, maybe not even in tomorrow’s actions.”
The action was picked up on all major news sources - on the radio with KUNM, on TV on Telemundo, and in the NM Political Report.
See more extensive coverage from the outlets below!
