SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Santa Fe district attorney says seven suspects in the vandalism of a historical monument torn down last fall will be spared jail time in a deal that obligates them to community service and participate in a restorative justice program. One defendant isn't agreeing to the deal.
The obelisk that once stood in the city's historic downtown plaza was torn down by around 40 protesters last October. The monument commemorated soldiers who fought the Confederacy during the Civil War. One face of the monument commemorated “heroes” who fought “savage Indians,” though the word savage had been chiseled out by an activist in the 1970s.