ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Republican lawmakers scrambled Wednesday to distance themselves from suspected shooter and failed Republican candidate Solomon Pena.
Pena, who lost his New Mexico state House race, was arrested Monday in connection with a series of shootings at the homes of state and local Democratic leaders, police said.
Pena is accused of conspiring and paying four men to shoot up the Albuquerque-area homes of two Bernalillo County commissioners and two state legislators, Albuquerque police said.
No one was injured in the shootings.
Pena made his first court appearance Wednesday and Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Jill Martinez ordered him held without bail. Assistant District Attorney Keith Rinaldi revealed that the state will request that Pena be detained before and during any trial.
“This was a heinous and reprehensible act regardless of your political affiliation. This individual was a felon in possession of a weapon who conspired to terrorize and harm New Mexico families,” New Mexico Senate Republican Leader Sen. Greg Baca said in a statement.
«He and his accomplices deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.»
Peña, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump who openly denied the November election results, claimed his own defeat was the result of voter fraud.
He lost in a landslide to incumbent House Democrat Miguel P. Garcia 5,679 to 2,033, or 74% to 26%. There is no evidence to support his fraud claims, despite his insistence on Twitter and in other statements.
On Wednesday, New Mexico’s Republican leaders insisted that they oppose «violence in any form.»
“This is yet another example of a convicted felon illegally gaining access to firearms, which he is unable to own or possess, and using the weapon in a manner that causes public harm,” the New House Republican leader said. Mexico, Ryan Lane, in a statement on Wednesday. .
«Republicans in the New Mexico House of Representatives condemn violence in any form and are grateful that no one was hurt.»
Peña served nine years in prison for stealing electronics and other items from stores and lost his right to vote for many years. He was released from prison in 2016 and was eligible to have his voting rights reinstated in 2021.
Deon J. Hampton reported from Albuquerque and David K. Li from New York City.