Who is Solomon Peña?
- Thread starter nsacpi
- Start date
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
The arrest of a defeated candidate for the New Mexico legislature on charges that he orchestrated a plot to shoot up the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque prompted widespread condemnation Tuesday as well as accusations that the stolen-election rhetoric among supporters of former president Donald Trump continues to incite violence.
Following the Monday arrest, new details emerged Tuesday about the alleged conspiracy, including how close a spray of bullets came to the sleeping 10-year-old daughter of a state senator. Albuquerque police said in charging documents released Tuesday that Solomon Peña, 39, who lost a state House seat in November by a nearly 2-1 margin but complained that his defeat was rigged, hatched the plot. Police accused him of conspiring with four accomplices to drive past the officials’ homes and fire at them.
Peña “provided firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting,” the documents said. They alleged he intended to cause “serious injury or death” to the people inside their homes, the documents said. The group allegedly stole at least two cars used in the incidents, police said.
One of the targets of the attack said the shootings were part of a lineage of violence that stems from Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and that includes the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“You think it wouldn’t happen here, that someone would do this to local officials,” said former Bernalillo commissioner Debbie O’Malley, whose home was shot at Dec. 11. “There’s been this narrative for a long time: If you don’t get your way, it’s okay to be violent. The message came from the top. It came from Trump.”
According to the charging documents, the most recent incident occurred Jan. 3, when at least a dozen rounds were fired into the Albuquerque home of state Sen. Linda Lopez (D).
Lopez told police she had initially thought the loud bangs she heard just after midnight were fireworks. But in the middle of the night, her 10-year-old daughter awoke thinking a spider had crawled across her face and wondering why her bed felt like it was filled with sand.
At daybreak, Lopez noticed holes in the house that made her suspect gunfire. After realizing that it was drywall dust from bullet holes that had awakened her daughter, she called the authorities, according to the charging papers. The documents also allege that Peña personally participated in the Lopez shooting because he was displeased that prior shootings had aimed “so high up on the walls.”
Peña brought an automatic rifle to Lopez’s home, but it jammed during the incident and did not fire, according to the documents.
Police accused Peña of orchestrating similar attacks in December on the Albuquerque homes of New Mexico state Rep. Javier Martinez, Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa and O’Malley, who at the time was also a county commissioner. They did not say whether the gunfire at those homes came close to striking anyone. Lopez, Martinez and Barboa could not be reached for comment.
Before his run for office, Peña served nearly seven years in prison on convictions related to a smash-and-grab scheme that included burglary, larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
In an interview, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said he has no doubt that Peña was motivated by Trump’s false claims of election fraud following the former president’s 2020 defeat. Medina said Peña regularly expressed extreme views on social media and boasted of attending Trump’s Stop the Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The individual that we’re charging believed in that conspiracy,” Medina said. “He did believe that his election was unfair and he did escalate and resort to violence as a means to find justice.”
Medina said federal law enforcement is also investigating potential federal firearms violations related to the shootings, as well as whether Peña participated in the Jan. 6 riots. An FBI spokesman said the agency is assisting local authorities in their investigation and declined to comment further.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, an outspoken critic of the threatening rhetoric of election deniers and a target of frequent online attacks, called on Republicans to condemn the violence in Albuquerque and urged voters to reject candidates who don’t.
She cited the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as well as the more recent attack on Paul Pelosi, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, as other troubling recent examples of political violence.
“It’s horrific,” Griswold said. “There are so many people who have to look over their shoulder living in fear in an atmosphere of political violence. As a nation we’re just lucky that the bullets didn’t land.”
Some Republicans joined in the condemnations. Ryan Lane, the New Mexico House Republican leader, praised law enforcement for their quick investigation. “New Mexico House Republicans condemn violence in any form and are grateful no one was injured,” Lane said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/17/solomon-pea-shooting-new-mexico/
Following the Monday arrest, new details emerged Tuesday about the alleged conspiracy, including how close a spray of bullets came to the sleeping 10-year-old daughter of a state senator. Albuquerque police said in charging documents released Tuesday that Solomon Peña, 39, who lost a state House seat in November by a nearly 2-1 margin but complained that his defeat was rigged, hatched the plot. Police accused him of conspiring with four accomplices to drive past the officials’ homes and fire at them.
Peña “provided firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting,” the documents said. They alleged he intended to cause “serious injury or death” to the people inside their homes, the documents said. The group allegedly stole at least two cars used in the incidents, police said.
One of the targets of the attack said the shootings were part of a lineage of violence that stems from Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and that includes the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“You think it wouldn’t happen here, that someone would do this to local officials,” said former Bernalillo commissioner Debbie O’Malley, whose home was shot at Dec. 11. “There’s been this narrative for a long time: If you don’t get your way, it’s okay to be violent. The message came from the top. It came from Trump.”
According to the charging documents, the most recent incident occurred Jan. 3, when at least a dozen rounds were fired into the Albuquerque home of state Sen. Linda Lopez (D).
Lopez told police she had initially thought the loud bangs she heard just after midnight were fireworks. But in the middle of the night, her 10-year-old daughter awoke thinking a spider had crawled across her face and wondering why her bed felt like it was filled with sand.
At daybreak, Lopez noticed holes in the house that made her suspect gunfire. After realizing that it was drywall dust from bullet holes that had awakened her daughter, she called the authorities, according to the charging papers. The documents also allege that Peña personally participated in the Lopez shooting because he was displeased that prior shootings had aimed “so high up on the walls.”
Peña brought an automatic rifle to Lopez’s home, but it jammed during the incident and did not fire, according to the documents.
Police accused Peña of orchestrating similar attacks in December on the Albuquerque homes of New Mexico state Rep. Javier Martinez, Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa and O’Malley, who at the time was also a county commissioner. They did not say whether the gunfire at those homes came close to striking anyone. Lopez, Martinez and Barboa could not be reached for comment.
Before his run for office, Peña served nearly seven years in prison on convictions related to a smash-and-grab scheme that included burglary, larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
In an interview, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said he has no doubt that Peña was motivated by Trump’s false claims of election fraud following the former president’s 2020 defeat. Medina said Peña regularly expressed extreme views on social media and boasted of attending Trump’s Stop the Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The individual that we’re charging believed in that conspiracy,” Medina said. “He did believe that his election was unfair and he did escalate and resort to violence as a means to find justice.”
Medina said federal law enforcement is also investigating potential federal firearms violations related to the shootings, as well as whether Peña participated in the Jan. 6 riots. An FBI spokesman said the agency is assisting local authorities in their investigation and declined to comment further.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, an outspoken critic of the threatening rhetoric of election deniers and a target of frequent online attacks, called on Republicans to condemn the violence in Albuquerque and urged voters to reject candidates who don’t.
She cited the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as well as the more recent attack on Paul Pelosi, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, as other troubling recent examples of political violence.
“It’s horrific,” Griswold said. “There are so many people who have to look over their shoulder living in fear in an atmosphere of political violence. As a nation we’re just lucky that the bullets didn’t land.”
Some Republicans joined in the condemnations. Ryan Lane, the New Mexico House Republican leader, praised law enforcement for their quick investigation. “New Mexico House Republicans condemn violence in any form and are grateful no one was injured,” Lane said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/17/solomon-pea-shooting-new-mexico/
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Some of the people chanting Hang Mike Pence would have undoubtedly done exactly that if given the opportunity.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
The number of "fruitcakes" taking their cues from the likes of Kari Lake and very poorly chosen one is pretty substantial. Not an isolated incident. Denialists will continue to avert their gazes or throw out deza about Paul Pelosi's "gay lover" or make excuses of FBI entrapment of the Michigan terrorists.
You haven't learned anything after all of the times you've been wrong over the last few years. Sad.
sturg33
I
There is an infinite amount of useless threads for him to start and get wrong
Absolutely no self awareness from this guy.
sturg33
I
Nonsense.
Even thought he is has gotten literally everything wrong, he proudly proclaimed "I am intelligent" on these very boards
You can't get more self aware than that
I wish I had a dollar for everything he thought was a conspiracy theory that turned out to be true.
Tapate50
Well-known member
@ BL
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-killed-protests-political-unrest-acled
Yeah super dangerous guy compared to this
Or even this
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cal...nate-brett-kavanaugh-arrest/story?id=85423002
But yeah totally one’s sided
Clown
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Tapate50
Well-known member
That **** was priceless.
57Brave
Well-known member
mighta wanted to read those articles