APD Announces Arrest of MAGA GOP Candidate who Shot at Politicians Homes and Businesses
By
January 17, 2023, 12:46 am
By: ABQ RAW staff
Posted: 1/16/2023 @ 5:30PM
Watch the Full Press conference at above link
Solomon Peña
Albuquerque – Early this afternoon, Albuquerque Police activated their SWAT team near downtown Albuquerque. APD arrested a suspect named Solomon Peña during the SWAT situation. He was taken into custody without incident. It was learned that Peña was responsible for shooting at politician’s homes and businesses with at least four other suspects.
Peña ran for office for the State District 14 House of Representatives of New Mexico position, under the Republican ticket. He ran against Democrat Miguel Garcia. Pena was defeated by a landslide in the race.
“Peña, an unsuccessful legislative candidate in the 2022 election, is accused of conspiring with, and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators,” said APD Police Chief Harold Medina.
APD said Peña was present at one of the politician’s place of business and they believe the shootings were politically motivated.
According to Pena’s election campaign website, “there is no systemic racism. Latino/Hispanic persons and our Black brethren are free to pursue fulfilling lives. Prior to Trump being President the coastal elites, welfare deadbeats, foreign nations and illegal aliens were benefiting at the expense of the American middle class. This was a consequence of multifaceted global forces of erosion such as globalization and it was specifically being done to appease the demonic theories of the Globalist Elites and their foreign counterparts. Donald Trump reversed the cited action as much as his constitutional authority permitted. All colors of Americans were better off when D. J. Trump was President”.
According to Peña’s Twitter account, he stood with former President Donald Trump.
Peña is in custody with APD officials at this time. APD and federal authorities are figuring out what other charges are going to be added to his current charges.
Peña also claims to be a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a medic that was attached to the Marines.
APD at a press conference provided this statement of the series of events which led to the arrest:
Five suspects allegedly conspired in the shootings
ALBUQUERQUE – APD detectives arrested Solomon Peña for the recent shootings at local lawmakers’ homes. Peña, an unsuccessful legislative candidate in the 2022 election, is accused of conspiring with, and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators.
Detectives learned that Peña paid the men cash and sent text messages with addresses where he wanted them to shoot at the homes. Peña also went with the men and attempted to shoot at one of the homes, but the AR handgun he was using malfunctioned. Another shooter fired more than a dozen rounds from a separate handgun.
Detectives served search warrants today at Peña’s apartment and at the home of two of the men who were allegedly paid by Peña. Peña did not talk to detectives. He was arrested today and will be charged with several state crimes.
County commissioners and Sen. Lopez told detectives that Peña showed up uninvited at their homes in November after the election. He provided them with documents that he said indicated fraud in the election results.
Peña lost the race for state House District 14 to incumbent Rep. Miguel Garcia. Garcia had sued Peña in August 2022, arguing that Peña was not eligible to serve in the Legislature because he is a convicted felon and was not pardoned by the Governor. A judge ruled in September that Peña could remain on the ballot because the law is unconstitutional.
Peña will be charged in connection to the following shootings, which caused damage at all four homes:
Dec. 4, 2022 – Several shots were fired at 4:41 p.m. at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa in Southeast Albuquerque.
Dec. 8, 2022 – Shots were fired at 6:52 a.m. at the home of House Speaker Javier Martinez in the North Valley.
Dec. 11, 2022 – More than a dozen shots were fired at the home of then-Bernalillo Commissioner Debbie O’Malley in the North Valley.
Jan. 3, 2023 – More than a dozen shots were fired shortly after Midnight at the home of State Sen. Linda Lopez in Southwest Albuquerque.
Nobody was injured in the shootings, which resulted in damage to four homes. Detectives no longer believe the shootings are connected to reports of shots fired near a campaign office of the Attorney General, nor the law office of a state senator.
APD detectives first connected Peña to the shooting at Sen. Lopez’s home following a ShotSpotter notification on Jan. 3, 2023, at 12:48 a.m. An officer responded and discovered shell casings, but did not see damage to the home. Sen. Lopez later found a bullet impact to the ceiling in her daughter’s room. Her daughter woke up to the gunfire and felt material fall from the ceiling.
The shell casings were tested at APD’s Crime Lab, resulting in a match to a handgun that was confiscated during a traffic stop 40 minutes after the shooting at Lopez’s home, and four miles from her home. A Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a silver Nissan Maxima at 1:28 a.m. on Jan. 3, the same night as the shooting. During the traffic stop, the deputy arrested the driver, identified as Jose Trujillo, who had a felony arrest warrant. During an inventory search prior to towing the car, deputies discovered over 800 fentanyl pills in the center console and two firearms in the trunk. One gun was a Glock handgun with a drum magazine and the other was an AR pistol. The Nissan Maxima that contained the guns was registered to Peña. A black Audi sedan was also found registered to Peña, matching the vehicle he drove to Commissioner O’Malley’s home in November.
At the time of the shooting at Lopez’s home, daetectives were already investigating the shootings reported in December. A casing located at the home of House Speaker Martinez matched a casing located in a stolen vehicle. Another casing found in a separate stolen vehicle matched a casing from the shooting at Commissioner Barboa’s home. Detectives determined the men who were paid by Peña were stealing vehicles to use for the shootings.
Detectives are continuing to investigate all five men who are implicated in the conspiracy. Charges are expected to be filed for the other men who participated in the shootings.
