Police in New Mexico arrested a Republican candidate, who campaigned for the state seat in the House of Representatives and lost, in connection with shootings at several homes belonging to local Democrat politicians.
Ex-con Solomon Pena, 39, was arrested on Monday, January 16, a few hours after police took him into custody and searched his home.
According to Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, Pena masterminded a politically motivated conspiracy and paid four men to shoot up the homes of two state legislators and two county commissioners between December 2022 and January 2023.
Although no one was injured during the shootings, three bullets went through a senator’s ten-year-old daughter’s bedroom.
Pena lost November’s election to incumbent New Mexico Representative Miguel P. Garcia, a long-time Democrat. Pena lost the election by around 3,600 votes.
After the election, Pena refused to concede defeat and disputed the election results, claiming widespread election fraud. He showed up unexpectedly at the elected official’s home with documents showing he allegedly won the race.
He faced much criticism during his campaign after Representative Garcia filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Pena from running for office because of a 2008 robbery conviction. Pena went to prison for seven years after the conviction, but a judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that laws preventing convicted felons from running for political office were unconstitutional.
The shootings started shortly after Pena claimed he won the election.
According to police, Pena paid four men to commit at least two shootings using stolen cars.
The Deputy Police Commander in Albuquerque, Kyle Hartsock, said that Pena pulled the trigger during one of the drive-by shootings.
Pena was identified as a key suspect using mobile phone records, interviews with witnesses, vehicle records, and bullet casings found at the homes. He was arrested a week after the police chief announced they had identified a suspect.
The shootings unfolded amid a rising threat to Congress members and elected officials.
“Us true American Nationalists will prevail, because you will have to kill us to stop us,” Pena tweeted on December 7, after the shootings began on December 4 at the home of Adriann Barboa, the County Commissioner for Bernalillo County. Shooters fired eight rounds at the home.
A few days later, the home of State Representative Javier Martinez was shot up.
On December 11, more than 12 shots were fired at Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley’s residence. The final shooting was on January 4, targeting the home of State Senator Linda Lopez.
Police rushed to the home of the State Senator after technology that detects gunfire sounds led them to the neighborhood.
Detectives later found a match between bullet casings at the Senator’s home and a gun in a car registered to Pena. On the morning of the shooting, around 1 am, police stopped a Nissan Maxima about four miles from the Senator’s neighborhood.
The driver was arrested on an outstanding warrant, and police found two firearms and over 800 fentanyl pills in the vehicle.
Police will release the former candidate’s exact charges in the coming days.
Pena supported former President Trump and his claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, an allegation that has been proven false.
