Former Republican Candidate Solomon Pena was taken into custody Monday morning by the SWAT team for crimes orchestrating five attacks on Democrats in Albuquerque, New Mexico, driven by his delusional beliefs from his failed election.
Pena is 39 years old and, despite being a GOP candidate, is a convicted felon.
In 2007, he was arrested for stealing multiple items from stores with a so-called burglary crew and was released in 2016 with his voting rights restored.
He then ran for the House in November and lost with only 26% of the vote.
He blamed it on voter fraud and claimed it was rigged.
He then showed up at some of the elected officials' homes with documents he claimed to show as proof that the election had been rigged. However, there is no evidence whatsoever to prove this, and the shootings occurred soon after.
With his most recent arrest, law enforcement released information about his possible connection to the five shootings, and according to the Associated Press, he was charged with "multiple counts of shooting at a home and shooting from a motor vehicle, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, and being a felon in possession of a firearm."
The first shooting that took place was shortly after his loss on December 4, 2022, and was aimed at Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa's home.
She told NPR that "my house had four shots through the front door and windows, where just hours before my grandbaby and I were playing in the living room."
Only a few days later, on December 10, 2022, the campaign office for Raúl Torrez was shot at. The following day, December 11, 2022, over 12 gunshots were fired at then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O'Malley’s home.
In January, there have been two shootings, one on January 3rd, 2023, and the most recent on January 5th. The first attack in January was on the home of state Sen.
Linda Lopez, with at least eight shots being fired and one even flying through her 10-year-old daughter’s room. Lastly, three shots were fired at a downtown law office.
After the most recent shooting, law enforcement stopped a stolen car at a traffic stop and found an AR-15, a Glock 17 (which matched the bullet casings found at the crime scene), and a large amount of fentanyl and cash.
The man in the car was José Trujillo, and along with the weapons, drugs, and cash, police found a phone containing a plethora of evidence linking Pena to the crimes and showing that he had been working with four other men, for whom he paid $500 to help him with the crimes, one of them being José.
One confidential witness has also confirmed all of the events that took place, giving more details about what Pena said and did to be involved in the crimes.
Based on the testimony of the witness, Pena was the contriver and leader of this plan and even pulled the trigger in one of the crimes.
Now, Democratic lawmakers and officials are nervous about their safety and fear any more radicalism from opposing sides. Politics often turn to violence, and communities and law enforcement in these areas have something to fear.
More arrests are to come, according to the police, which will hopefully ease the minds of some Democrats in the New Mexico area, but it also serves as a warning against the political violence that takes place constantly.
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