Andres Valdez

Valdez was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in San Luis, Colorado. Though once employed as a carpenter, he now works as a professional activist.[2]

In November 1997 Valdez was appointed by the city of Albuquerque to the "Task Force on Police Oversight," a city council convened advisory group formed to make recommendations on a new system of oversight for Albuquerque's police department.[3] He requested appointment to a 2013 task force convened by the council to make a new series of recommendations on the police oversight system, though the council declined to make him a member.[4]

Since 2002, Valdez has filed a variety of complaints and lawsuits against the city of Albuquerque and city officials, including former mayor Martin Chávez[5] and current mayor Richard J. Berry,[6][7][8] and has been involved in a number of demonstrations that have interrupted city meetings and events.[9]

In 1997, and again in 2014, he attempted to serve "arrest warrants" he had self-signed against police officers.[2] In 2006 Valdez and Gwen Packard led a protest prior to the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade saying they wanted to end the "glamorization of Native American oppression by Albuquerque's Tri-Centennial initiative."[10] In 2010 Valdez received $10,000 in an out-of-court settlement by the city over a lawsuit he had brought after being ruled out-of-order during the public comment period at a police oversight commission meeting.[11] During a May 2014 demonstration by Valdez and several dozen protesters at the chambers of the Albuquerque city council, Valdez announced a "coup d'etat" against the city's government. The city council president ultimately adjourned the meeting and it was reconvened several days later.[12]

In 1997 Valdez sought election to the Albuquerque city council, ultimately losing to Tim Kline with 13-percent of the vote.[13]

In 2012 Valdez announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate. In an early debate he declared Martin Heinrich a "pup" who lacked life experience, though, subsequently withdrew from the race citing "the outrageous amount of money needed to run.”[14][15]