CNN
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New Mexico officials have released new details about a spate of shootings at the homes of senior Democratic officials and a failed Republican candidate accused of masterminding the attacks.
Solomon Peña, who lost his 2022 candidacy for State House District 14, was accused of conspiring to hire four men to shoot the homes of two state legislators and two county commissioners. He was arrested by police SWAT teams on Monday.
Peña’s arrest warrant affidavit identifies the two alleged co-conspirators as Demetrio Trujillo and Jose Trujillo.
Albuquerque police said in an affidavit that “immediately after this campaign failed, he[Peña]conspired with Demetrio, Jose and two brothers to destroy the homes of elected local and state officials. We have good reason to believe that four shots were fired at .
“Solomon provided firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting.”
CNN reached out to Peña’s campaign website and attorneys for comment. Attempts to contact Trujillos’ attorneys were unsuccessful.
Police are now investigating whether Peña met one of the suspected co-conspirators at the same prison where he served.
Also, a former campaign staffer explains how the Republican candidate blasted Republicans who don’t support Trump.
According to Albuquerque Police:
• On December 4, the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adrian Balboa was shot multiple times.
• State House Speaker-elect Javier Martinez’s home was gunned down on December 8th.
• On December 11th, the home of former Bernallio County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley was gunned down.
• State Senator Linda Lopez’s home was gunned down on January 3rd.
• Peña went to another commissioner’s house to discuss the election, but that commissioner “never reported the shooting,” Albuquerque police said.
• Peña has also been charged with attempting to take part in at least one of the shootings, according to Albuquerque police.
Police said no one was injured in any of the shootings, including at least one shot that went through a child’s bedroom.
After losing the election, Peña filed documents alleging election fraud at the home of a state senator and two county commissioners, according to Albuquerque police.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said an investigation found that “these shootings were indeed politically motivated.”
False and unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud have surged across the country in recent years, fueling anger and threats of violence against elected officials in local politics as well.
Peña is preliminarily charged with felony possession of a firearm. Attempted aggravated battery with lethal weapons. soliciting a crime; shooting in an occupied residence, shooting in a motor vehicle, or shooting from a motor vehicle, according to the warrant, each of his four counts of conspiracy;
Pena had served almost seven years in prison after being convicted in 2008 of stealing a large amount of merchandise in a “smash and grab scheme.” CNN affiliate KOAT report.
Police are investigating how Peña knew the alleged co-conspirators and whether he met one in prison.
“We are still investigating,” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said Wednesday.
“Apparently Mr. Pena was a resident of our prison facility in New Mexico, and one of the other individuals was also a member of the same prison. I’m trying to find out if they had a relationship while they were in, or if they made friends outside.”
Peña’s former campaign staffer said the candidate would chastise Republicans who believed he didn’t endorse former President Donald Trump, and Peña “called out another Republican politician for being “anti-Trump.” ’ I remembered the case.
“He was always badmouthing other people in the party,” said a former staffer who worked for Peña’s campaign last spring.
The staff described the months working for Peña as “a headache” and eventually dropped the campaign, citing “disagreements”.
County Commissioner Balboa, whose home was shot multiple times on December 4, told CNN about meeting Peña before the shooting.
“He said the election was fake,” Balboa recalled Tuesday. “I didn’t feel threatened at the time, but I felt he was insecure.”
Similarly, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained from Albuquerque police, former Bernalillo County Commissioner O’Malley told police Peña was at his home days before the December 11 shooting.
“Debbie recalled being upset that Debbie O’Malley had not won an election for office, even though she was not a candidate,” the affidavit states.
Camera footage of the doorbell ringing, recorded at O’Malley’s former residence and obtained by CNN, shows Peña approaching the door, knocking with papers in hand.
A current resident speaks to him via the camera’s speaker function, telling him that O’Malley no longer lives in that residence and directs him to his new home.
No one was injured in the shooting, but Peña “intended to cause serious injury or death to the occupants of the home,” an affidavit in the arrest warrant states.
The affidavit states: “I have good reason to believe that he conspired to carry out these four shootings in the homes of officials shortly after his (political) campaign failed. There is.”
Firearm evidence, surveillance footage, eyewitness testimony, and cell phone and electronic records also allowed authorities to link the five individuals to the deputy commander of the Albuquerque Police Department, who they suspected of collusion. Kyle Hartsock said.
Peña was first implicated in the Jan. 3 shooting at Lopez’s home.
That day, Lopez “heard a loud noise and thought it was fireworks at the time,” she told police.
But her 10-year-old daughter woke up to find spiders crawling on her face and thought she had sand in her bed. According to her affidavit, it turned out to be rock dust blown into the child’s face from a bullet that passed through her bedroom.
According to the affidavit, police later found “12 crashes” at the state senator’s home and a nearby bullet case.
Approximately 40 minutes after the shooting, agents found a silver Nissan Maxima with “improperly displayed license plate stickers” about four miles from Lopez’s home and stopped traffic. Suspended, the affidavit says.
The Nissan was registered with Peña but was driven by Jose Trujillo, who had a felony warrant for his arrest, the affidavit says.
In the trunk, the deputy found a Glock pistol with a drum magazine and an AR pistol.
Investigators then linked Peña to the shooting at another official’s home. On Monday, detectives issued a search warrant at Peña’s apartment and the homes of two men whom Peña allegedly paid for.
One of the co-conspirators initially told the shooter to “aim through the window and try not to hit anyone inside,” the affidavit said, adding that secret sources with knowledge of the alleged conspiracy. citing witnesses.
But Peña eventually became “more aggressive” with the shooter, vowing that he wanted “to aim lower and shoot around 8 p.m. because residents are likely not to lie down.” The affidavit quotes confidential witnesses.
In a recent shooting, police found evidence that “Peña himself went and pulled the trigger of at least one of the firearms actually used,” Hartsock said. But the AR pistol he was trying to use malfunctioned and another shooter fired more than a dozen shots, a police news release said.
Authorities are investigating whether those suspected of carrying out the shootings “knew who these targets were, or even simply carried out the shootings.”
Peña, who lost the election 26% to 74% to Democratic Rep. Miguel Garcia, publicly claimed the election was rigged, his Twitter account shows.
“Trump just announced 2024. I stand by him. I’ve never lost an HD 14 race. Now I’m researching my options,” Peña said. murmured November 15th after losing the race.
On January 2, in response to someone asked if his election was rigged, Peña said: murmured: “Si, mine was rogue too. And I’ll fight to the death.”
Peña last tweeted on January 9 that he had not lost the election. Posted “When I finally beat the manipulated NM election, oh man, I’ll be a hero! MAGA Nation 4ever!”
Keller, the Democratic mayor of Albuquerque, called Peña a “right-wing extremist” and a “dangerous criminal.”
“This kind of radicalism is a threat to our country, and it’s here on our doorstep in Albuquerque, New Mexico,” Keller said in a statement.
“Disagreements are the foundation of democracy, but disagreements should not lead to violence.”
The Bernalillo County District Attorney said he would personally prosecute the case against Peña because he was “offended” by what he called an “attack on our democracy.”
“Attacking an elected official with violence is an attack on our democracy. Sam Bregman said.
“Frankly, the community is upset about this, and so am I.”
