Solomon Pena

A former candidate for the state legislature was arrested Monday for allegedly orchestrating the shootings at the homes of local Democratic officials.

Police later got a search warrant for the cellphone of Demetrio Trujillo — whose relationship to José Trujillo isn't spelled out in court papers, but who is named as Peña's main co-conspirator. "They can go back to focusing on the legislative session. In one case, Peña had visited one of the officials one or two days earlier, appearing at her home unannounced to complain that the election was stolen from him. About 40 minutes after the attack on Lopez's home, a sheriff's deputy pulled over a silver Nissan Maxima for a traffic stop related to the car's tags, and the driver, José Trujillo, was found to have an outstanding felony arrest warrant. A newly stolen red truck was used in the Lopez attack, police say, suggesting that when Trujillo was stopped, the alleged gunmen had already gotten rid of the stolen vehicle. When Lopez took her daughter back to bed, the girl "asked why it felt like there was sand in the bed." Describing the attackers' methods, police say the gunmen apparently stole cars to carry out several attacks. 11, more than a dozen shots were fired into the home of then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O'Malley. The witness adds that the more aggressive approach made the gunmen uneasy "since they knew doing so would more likely end in death or injury." The state senator later said she heard loud bangs, which she attributed to fireworks. Just before that attack, police allege, Peña had urged the gunmen to aim lower when they shot at politicians' houses. 4, when eight rounds were fired into the residence of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa.

A criminal complaint provided to USA TODAY reveals frightening details about the shootings linked to the Republican candidate. Bullets fired into one of the ...

His wife, the complaint reads, was home at the time of the attack and heard the gunfire erupt. O'Malley said that Peña arrived at her home a day or two prior to the incident. 3 and tried to shoot, but the automatic rifle he was using malfunctioned. Police said they identified Peña as their “key” suspect using a combination of cellphone records, witness interviews and bullet casings collected at the lawmakers’ homes. According to the criminal complaint, the shooting took place just after 3:30 p.m. Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock said at least four people, including Peña, were involved in the shootings. A preliminary investigation at the home found "sheet rock and dust was blown on Linda’s daughter‘s face in bed, resulting from firearm projectiles, passing inside her bedroom overhead." Peña was present for the shooting at Lopez's residence, the witness claimed. At the same time, her 10-year-old daughter woke up and told her mother that she believed a spider crawled over her face in bed. According to the complaint, the lawmaker told police she heard loud bangs at her home the night of the shooting, but dismissed them as fireworks. "I am grateful a suspect is in custody and I trust our justice system will hold them accountable." A criminal complaint provided to USA TODAY reveals frightening details about the shootings linked to the Republican candidate.

He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center early Tuesday morning. Pena, 39, had been arrested by the Albuquerque Police Department SWAT team at his ...

Detectives interviewed a witness and was told that Pena paid Demetrio Trujillo for a “job” shooting at multiple residences, according to the complaint. He said that Pena attempted to fire the AR, but it jammed and did not fire correctly, so one of the others fired a Glock instead. The witness, who is referred to as CW1, said he was with the group during the shooting at Barboa’s house, Martínez’s house and Lopez’s house. They sold us out to the highest bidder” and “they were literally laughing at us while they were doing it.” About 40 minutes after the gunfire, and less than five miles away, a BCSO deputy arrested 21-year-old Jose Trujillo on a warrant after stopping him for having an expired registration. An officer arrived at the scene and collected casings but didn’t see the damage since it was dark. That same day, a woman reported her SUV had been stolen and then found it less than half a mile from Barboa’s house. When Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa’s home was struck by gunfire on the afternoon of Dec. He had been stopped less than five miles from a shooting that had occurred about 40 minutes earlier at the home of state Sen. A second SWAT activation took place later that night in the Valley Area Command as investigators executed a search warrant. No one was injured in any of the incidents, but the politicians’ homes were riddled with bullets and, in Lopez’s case, rounds pierced the bedroom where her 10-year-old daughter slept. Then, on the night of Jan.

Failed New Mexico state House candidate Solomon Peña visited the homes of local Democratic leaders to vehemently dispute his election loss.

"I got to find out the details about it," he said. "He put vulgar signs up in his windows and on his car. Because of his record, he lost his right to vote for many years. “He had complaints about his election he felt being rigged,” Gallegos said. A shell casing found in the Maxima also matched those found outside the home of new state House Speaker Javier Martinez on Dec. There is no evidence to support his fraud claims, despite his adamance on Twitter and in other statements. He was angry about losing the election,” she said. “He felt the election was unfair and untrue.” He was an election denier,” Barboa said. Pena first visited O'Malley's former home before he tracked her down to her current address. “Pena came to my house right after the [November] election. “He was at my door, and he was aggressive.

ALBUQUERQUE — A former Republican candidate accused of orchestrating attacks on the homes of Democratic rivals cited the need to threaten “civil war” to ...

Mr. According to a confidential witness cited by the police in the complaint, Mr. Trujillo on an unrelated felony warrant and found that he was driving a car owned by Mr. 3, the witness said that Mr. O’Malley’s home later showed Mr. In the last attack, on the home of Ms. In a text message that Mr. “He claimed there was no way he could have lost, even though he lost in a landslide.” Barboa, the county commissioner whose home was targeted in the first attack, said in an interview that Mr. Peña was in the crowd listening to Mr. The police filed a rash of charges against Mr. In self-filed, handwritten court papers, he complained that “prison authorities want the prisoners to be stupid, uneducated and uninformed (and drug-addicted) so they can do whatever they want to the prisoners.”

What we know about ex-GOP candidate arrested in connection with shootings at homes of New Mexico Democrats · Approaches officials with claims of electoral fraud.

A car driven at one of the shooting scenes was registered to Peña, according to police. “After the election in November, Solomon Peña reached out and contracted someone for an amount of cash money to commit at least two of these shootings. “Solomon provided firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting,” the arrest affidavit said. A week later he tweeted he “never conceded” the race and was researching his options. Officers found “sheetrock dust was blown onto Linda’s daughter’s face and bed resulting from firearm projectile(s) passing inside her bedroom overhead,” according to the affidavit. I didn’t feel threatened at the time, but I did feel like he was erratic,” Barboa told “CNN This Morning” on Tuesday. He was picked up during a traffic stop less than an hour after the shooting at Lopez’s home. [“rigged” election](https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/politics/republican-2020-election-deniers/index.html) is accused of masterminding a [ series of shootings targeting the homes of elected Democrats](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/us/albuquerque-democrat-officials-shootings-police-investigate/index.html). O’Malley called the police to say the adobe fencing at her home had been damaged by gunfire. At least eight shots were fired at the southwest Albuquerque residence. … He was saying that the elections were fake … “He came to my house after the election.

Solomon Peña, a former Republican candidate for state office in New Mexico, has been arrested after a string of recent shootings targeting the homes of ...

It also concludes that Peña personally participated in at least one of the shootings. On top of the shots fired at Barboa’s home, which happened on Dec. 4, shots were also fired at the home of incoming state House Speaker Javier Martinez (D) on Dec. 4, there were four separate shootings at the homes of four different state and local officials. A state court cleared Peña to be able to run in the election, according to KOAT. After Trump formally announced his 2024 bid for the White House, Peña took to Twitter to voice his support for the former president’s third campaign. Peña leaned into the rhetoric of right-wing candidates who have challenged election results since former President Trump and his supporters launched attacks against the results of the 2020 election, calling into question the integrity of the country’s voting systems. In a reply to a tweet from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Peña outlined his belief that “New Mexico elections are absolutely rigged.” He approached a legislator and county commissioners at their homes with paperwork that he said was evidence of fraud, according to police. Democrats control both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s mansion in New Mexico. Peña is suspected of orchestrating the attacks. Peña launched a campaign for the New Mexico legislature in the 2022 midterms, challenging Democratic incumbent Rep.

But criminal and civil court records, police reports and the words of Republican leaders who donated to his failed campaign fill in some blanks. A man ...

“Because at the door people are not going to tell you the truth.” One of the biggest donors to Pena’s campaign was Jose Louis Trujillo, who pledged $2,455. Pena erupted on the political scene in a November run to represent the South Valley in the House District 14 race. The man said there were “several deals” where Pena refused to pay him, according to the report. UNM declined to elaborate on Pena’s time at the university or make any of his professors available for interview. The site said Pena served as a U.S.