New Mexico Crusaders hoping to fight for a bill of their own

By Breana Albizu

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    SANTA FE, New Mexico (KOAT) — Tears and anger at the New Mexico State Capitol.

“It’s just a lot of anxiety. Just you waking up, thinking what happened? I still have no answers. I still don’t know who did it. I want justice for my son,” Ada Garay said. Her son, Abel Mares, was shot in April 2021.

Garay is also a member of the New Mexico Crusaders for Justice.

On Tuesday, the group was seen inside the Rotunda. They also set up a display showcasing an Albuquerque skyline and hot air balloons, each of which showed 120 people lost to gun violence.

“It has changed my world. I’m a new person, and it’s hard to get used to the new person that I am because I miss my son. I miss who I was before,” Kina Kozlowski said. She also lost her son, Nathan Barela, after he was shot and killed in April 2023.

The group has over 1,000 members, and it’s still expanding since it formed several years ago.

With people like Andrea Aguirre. She joined seven months ago, and she’s still frustrated with the lack of justice for her daughter, Alana Gamboa. The 19-year-old student at the University of New Mexico died on July 4, 2023, just three weeks before her birthday.

“When is it going to stop? What is it going to take for [lawmakers] to realize that enough is enough?” Aguirre said.

The organization also has members like Maurilio Bernal. His son, Darrin Bernal, was killed at a party in April 2019. He was 40 years old.

“The Crusaders has done me not only justice, but it has given me peace,” he said. “Knowing that my son’s death is not going to be in vain, that’s what helps me out.”

For years, the group has advocated for stricter gun laws. From raising the minimum age to buy a gun to stricter penalties for second-degree murders.

But leaders have yet to see progress.

“I try to keep positive because the violence is still ongoing,” Alicia Otero, co-founder of the New Mexico Crusaders for Justice, said. ” The problem is so strong. So, if we don’t get it this year, we’re going to be back next year to try again.”

That’s why, come next year’s legislative session, leaders want to ask for a victim’s rights office.

“Where they are there to support us. Where we have somewhere to go file our complaints. Our rights are being stepped on, and it’s hard to do that when it’s in the district attorney’s office, the Albuquerque Police Department’s office, or any other police department. We need our own office,” Sally Sanchez, another co-founder of the New Mexico Crusaders for Justice, said.

So that means a hunt for a legislator to draft and sponsor the bill.

“We have the whole year. We’re going to work on it and get the language, but it’s something that we need to fight for,” Sanchez said.

She adds that group leaders have already been speaking with several lawmakers about the proposal. They also hope the new office will be funded by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

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