By: Justin Allen, Albuquerque Community Organizer
This past February, I witnessed firsthand how my city tries to silence people who dare stand up for our unhoused neighbors. I was documenting how the City of Albuquerque’s Solid Waste Department was harassing unhoused people when they retaliated against me for asserting my right to free speech. That's why I’m suing the City of Albuquerque, not only to protect my rights but for everyone who has demanded accountability and justice from our city under the watch of Mayor Tim Keller and Albuquerque Police Department (APD) Chief Harold Medina.
On that day, I was filming the Solid Waste Department as they began illegally forcing people to leave the sidewalk, despite the court injunction that protected the unhoused from being displaced. In response, a solid waste worker took my license plate number, and without my consent, another worker shared my home address with the unhoused people to scare me into silence.
This was not an isolated incident—this is part of a broader system of harassment designed to intimidate anyone who stands up against government violence, displacement, and the criminalization of poverty.
This is part of a broader system of harassment designed to intimidate anyone who stands up against government violence.
This incident is not just about me. Our tax dollars are being used by the city to target unhoused people and those who document and resist the city’s attempts to push our unhoused neighbors further into the margins. When I tried to file a complaint with the city through 311, I couldn’t believe how they handled it. Someone claiming to be with the city called me back. She refused to address my concerns, talked over me, attempted to discredit my knowledge of the injunction, and ultimately hung up on me. This is how the city treats people who speak up.
We should all be outraged that our taxpayer dollars are funding this kind of behavior. Instead of addressing the housing crisis and protecting people, the City of Albuquerque is using public servants and militarized police to terrorize its own residents. It’s unethical and it's also illegal.
I am calling on the community to stand together, to be outraged, and to demand better from our city. We cannot allow the City of Albuquerque or APD to bully us into silence. This lawsuit is one step in a larger fight to ensure our rights are protected, our voices heard, and our communities safe. Only by holding the city accountable can we begin to dismantle the systems that prioritize city-sanctioned violence and displacement over the well-being and dignity of our most vulnerable.
