Republican Candidate Hired Gunmen to Shoot Democrats
2023.01.18 10:51
Republican Candidate Hired Gunmen to Shoot Democrats
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – On Tuesday, a Republican candidate who lost in the 2022 election in New Mexico was charged with hiring four gunmen to shoot at the homes of Democratic officials after visiting them to protest his loss.
According to the county prosecutor’s office, Solomon Pena, who lost a race for the state House of Representatives in November, faces at least a dozen charges for orchestrating Albuquerque drive-by shootings on the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators since December 4.
On Monday, Pena, who Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller referred to as a “radical right election denier,” was taken into custody.
The shootings, which occurred after Pena visited the homes of three county commissioners and state Senator Linda Lopez to allege fraud in a House race he lost by 47 percentage points, left no one hurt, according to police. The arguments were sometimes heated.
A criminal complaint stated that during the final assault on Lopez’s home on Jan. 3, the legislator’s 10-year-old daughter was awoken and felt dust fall on her face as bullets struck her bedroom ceiling.
According to the filing, Pena told the gunmen to carry out the shooting, which he participated in earlier in the evening because he was dissatisfied that no one had been killed in previous attacks.
According to the complaint, which cited an unidentified source, “Solomon wanted them to aim lower and shoot around 8 p.m. because occupants would more likely not be lying down.”
According to the police, a person who was a part of the conspiracy is helping investigators. At least two gunmen have been apprehended. A pre-trial detention hearing for Pena, who was previously found guilty of crimes like burglary, is scheduled for Wednesday at one o’clock.
Lawyers representing the suspects in the case could not be immediately identified.
As he was not giving up his election, Pena tweeted on November 15 a picture of himself sporting a sweatshirt with the slogan “Make America Great Again” and the message “researching my options.”
According to Pena’s website and messages in a Telegram group run by Clements’ wife, Pena is a supporter of false theories propagated by prominent election denier David Clements, who is based in New Mexico.
“Catch them until they die!” In response to a claim that Nevada had committed fraud, Pena wrote in July in the New Mexico Audit Force Telegram group. They assisted in the overthrow of Donald Trump.”
A request for information regarding Clements’ connections to Pena did not receive an immediate response from the propagandist for myths about rigged voting machines.
