On most days, downtown San Luis is a quiet place. The town, the oldest in Colorado and seat of Costilla County, is just a short drive from the New Mexico border. Last week though, it was anything but calm. A crowded county commission meeting that drew impassioned speeches spilled out into the street, and two groups formed. One, made up of long-time residents, chanted “we support the police.” Members of another, comprised of mostly newer residents that live off the grid, shouted about constitutional rights and filmed the scene as police pushed them down the block.
“Turn around or you’re going to get tased,” one officer says.
“I really don’t want to jail you guys,” another adds.
The scene was the public culmination of a feud over land use regulations and much more that’s been simmering beneath the surface of local government in the southern reaches of the San Luis Valley.