In connection with a string of shootings at the homes of state and local Democratic leaders, police detained a failed state house candidate for New Mexico who they described as an “election denier.”.
According to Albuquerque police, Republican Solomon Pea is accused of collaborating with four men and paying them to carry out shootings at the homes of two state representatives and two commissioners of Bernalillo County in the Albuquerque area. The shootings left nobody injured.
According to the police, Pea’s loss in November may have served as a driving factor. At a news conference early on Monday evening, police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos stated that Pea claimed election fraud caused his defeat.
Pea was defeated by Democratic incumbent Miguel P. in the race for the state House.
He attempted to convince three county commissioners and a state senator, some of whose residences were the targets of the shootings, but to no avail, according to Gallegos.
According to Gallegos, “He had complaints about his election, which he felt had been rigged.”. “As the mayor said, he was an election denier; he refuses to accept the results of his election. “.
He claimed that a discussion with regional and state leaders got heated.
Gallegos remarked, “One actually led to quite an argument. “The shootings took place shortly after. “.
State senator. A bullet hole is visible in Linda Lopez’s garage door, a Democrat from Albuquerque, on January. 5 after her house was shot at last month. Adolphe Pierre via Alamy/Albuquerque Journal.
Pea was a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump, who blamed his election loss in 2020 on what turned out to be an unfounded claim of voter fraud. He was pictured during his campaign last year sporting a red “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt bearing the former president’s stitched signature in gold.
Mayor of Albuquerque Tim Keller characterized the attacks as the result of political extremism.
He wrote in a tweet on Monday that “this radicalism is a threat to our city, our state, and our nation.”. “We’ll keep fighting back against hate in all its forms and put an end to political violence. “.
Police in Albuquerque claim that detectives believe Pea paid four men in cash and texted them the addresses he wanted to target.
According to police, a traffic stop early in January was crucial to the investigation. A felony warrant led to the arrest of Jose Trujillo, the driver of three of Pea’s Nissan Maximas, according to a statement from the police released on Monday.
Over 800 fentanyl pills were found in the center console after the arrest prompted an “inventory search” of the car, which is a legally permitted trawl to safely impounded it, according to police.
Two pistols were found in the Nissan, and they were more important to the investigation since one of them looked to have fired rounds outside the house of the state senator. According to the most recent police statement, Linda Lopez was approximately 40 minutes prior to the traffic stop and 4 miles away.
According to the statement, one of the weapons matches the description of one that police claim Pea used in one of the four shootings. Police claim that he hired a man to carry out the shooting after his gun malfunctioned. In their statement from Monday night, the police said that “another shooter fired more than a dozen shots from a different weapon.”
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