Residents criticize police 'sniper' deployment at protest; council adopts three-year video retention policy

Dozens of Las Cruces residents told the City Council on June 16 they felt intimidated when armed officers occupied elevated positions and used scoped rifles while monitoring a June 13 protest in Albert Johnson Park, and they asked city leaders for answers and accountability.

The council voted to adopt a resolution setting a three‑year retention period and an automatic destruction process for non‑evidentiary Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) video; officials said video tied to open or adjudicated cases will be preserved beyond that period.

The protest and the police response drew sustained public comment at the council meeting. "During our protest ... law enforcement deployed snipers and pointed rifles and tactical crossbows at us for the entire duration of the event," said Dylan Davis, who identified himself as a participant and resident. "There were children at this event. There were children with guns pointed at them for 3 hours."

Library staffer Catherine Quitello said an officer set up a scoped rifle inside an upper floor of Branigan Memorial Library and watched demonstrators through the scope. "Standing there in the grass watching a 3‑year‑old girl play with a puppy ... I felt only the violence of their presence," she said.

Other speakers, including Quentin Quitello, Lindley Hornsby and Giovanni (Yovanni) Hernandez, described fear and confusion at the protest and contrasted the LCPD response at a separately permitted Saturday event. Several public commenters asked why officers armed and positioned on roofs were visible during the Friday gathering but not during the Saturday demonstration. "On Friday, there were officers in plain clothes, hidden in shadows, holding guns," Quentin Quitello said. "Saturday, the police presence was notably different."

Police and city officials defended the department's decision while acknowledging concerns about optics.…