'He wouldn't stop': Navajo delegate with eyewitness account at inter-tribal event #NewMexico #Gallup
Channel: indianz
Date: 05/08/2022

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty offers an eyewitness account of the violence that marred a large inter-tribal gathering in New Mexico.

Crotty marched in the parade at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial on the evening of August 4, 2022. She described the event as a "beautiful night"  -- until a vehicle drove into the crowd in downtown Gallup.

“And right when we came out of that curve, we just heard: ‘Everyone move, get out of the, get out of the way,'” Crotty recalled in a livestream on social media. “And someone pushed us out of danger.”

“And right when they did that, that vehicle passed by us,” Crotty said of the gold-colored car at the center of the shocking incident.

“And that man had no compassion in his heart,” she said of the person behind the wheel of the car. “[He] sped up.”

Crotty fought back tears as she confirmed footage which showed parade participants and bystanders attempting to intervene and stop the car from causing further harm to the crowd. She said a representative from the Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives group was among those who stepped in.

“I know one of our MMDR sisters was so mad, she tried to stop him,” Crotty said. “She’s okay. And everybody’s asking how we’re doing and, and we’re just doing the best we can.”

During the livestream, an older man approached Crotty. Though he remained out of sight of the camera, she referred to him respectfully using the Navajo word for uncle.

“We saw him,” Crotty said of the driver. “He wouldn’t stop.”

“I wanna see him, I wanna see him,” the older man said in reference to the driver.

“We’re all mad,” she responded.

“I’m reminding myself, we did the best we could,” Crotty said later in the livestream. “I’m reminding myself that everyone that I saw was okay. But mentally we’re going to need to come together and have some healing.”

Video Source: Amber Kanazbah Crotty

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