Republican candidate accused of shooting at houses of Democrats in New Mexico

An aspiring New Mexico state legislator from the Republican Party paid four men $500 to shoot up the houses of Democratic legislators, went with them to one of the attacks, his gun jammed and some of the bullets entered the room of a 10-year-old girl who was sleeping, police said.

The criminal complaint against Salomón Peña, a 39-year-old ex-convict and self-proclaimed “MAGA king” (referring to the motto “Make America Great Again” or Let’s make the United States great again), describes how anger over his defeat in November led him to attack the homes of four Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico’s largest city.

A SWAT team pulled him over Monday night, police said. Peña spent nine years in prison after his arrest in April 2007 for stealing electronics and other items from various stores. He was released in March 2016, and his voting rights were restored in 2021 after completing five years of probation in April, corrections officials said.

Peña ran unsuccessfully in November against incumbent state Rep. Miguel P. Garcia, a Democrat who has long represented House District 14 in the South Valley. Peña obtained 26% of the votes.

Peña, whose criminal past had come to light during his campaign, made repeated unsubstantiated claims that the election was “rigged” against him.

“I disagree. I am the MAGA king,” he published the day after the elections.

On November 15, he posted an image of himself wearing a hoodie bearing Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” reading “Trump just announced for 2024. I’m with him. I’ve never I have withdrawn my candidacy for House District 14. I am investigating my options.”

Pena has an initial court appearance Wednesday charged with multiple counts including shooting into a home and shooting from a motor vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and possession of a firearm by a felon. .

No one was injured in the shootings, which come amid a wave of threats across the country against members of Congress, school board members, election officials and other government workers. This week the trial began in Kansas against a man who, according to the prosecution, threatened to kill a congressman.

The New Mexico Republican Party said that “if Pena is found guilty, he must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Police said Pena had previously shown up uninvited at the homes of two elected officials with what he said were documents proving he had won their race.

There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud, or any irregularity involving enough votes to change a result in New Mexico, in 2020 or 2022.

The criminal complaint, which includes testimony from an unidentified witness who said he had “personal and intimate knowledge of the crimes” and was present at most of the attacks, claims Peña hired a father and son with criminal records already two brothers that authorities have not yet identified.

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