A failed GOP candidate in New Mexico was convicted of orchestrating a shooting spree aimed at Democratic elected officials, including two who certified his election loss, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Solomon Peña, who ran for a seat in the New Mexico legislature in 2022, was convicted at trial of over a dozen charges in organizing attacks on four lawmakers. His involvement included not just recruiting gunmen – who have already plead guilty – but he participated in one of the attacks using a machine gun, according to court filings. From jail he also tried having witnesses killed, federal officials said.
No one was hurt in the shootings, which occurred after Peña’s November 2022 electoral defeat. He pressured members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners to refuse to certify the results of the election, but despite Peña’s pressure, the commissioners certified the results.
The dozens of bullets fired in the assaults hit houses, cars and even passed inside the bedroom of a 10-year-old girl, according to court filings and statements from police.
Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, who was the first official targeted and oversaw election certification at the time, celebrated Peña’s conviction but said his actions were symptomatic of a growing problem of political violence in America.
“We have to send a clear message that violence is not tolerable, period,” Barboa told USA TODAY. “Without these kinds of precedents set, people will continue to think that they can take the law into their own hands.”
The attacks came amid a rash of political violence across the nation, from an angry mob threatening the lives of top U.S. lawmakers certifying the 2020 presidential election results to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last year.
Holland S. Kastrin, the acting U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, noted the high stakes of the case.
“A cornerstone of our freedoms is for all citizens, elected officials, and candidates for office to be able to participate in our democratic process safely and securely, without threats, intimidation, or the fear of violence or retaliation,” Kastrin told USA TODAY. “Peña not only orchestrated a violent conspiracy to undermine these bedrock principles but also sought to have witnesses against him murdered. We welcome the well-founded guilty verdicts which both hold the defendant accountable for his violent and reckless actions and affirm the rule of law.”
Peña and crew committed the shooting spree between Dec. 4, 2022 and Jan. 3, 2023. They also targeted a state senator, state representative and another county commissioners responsible for certifying election results.
The 40-year-old faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 60 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled yet.
Accomplices Jose and Demetrio Trujillo plead guilty last year and will be sentenced in the spring, federal officials said.
Attorneys for Peña did not respond to requests for comment.
More: Court papers reveal details on former Republican candidate linked to shootings at New Mexico lawmakers’ homes
A booking photo of Solomon Peña from the Metropolitan Detention Center. Peña was convicted of organizing a shooting spree targeting Democratic lawmakers.
‘Emboldened by the highest office’: Targeted lawmaker blames Trump
Barboa said she knew exactly what the attack was about the moment she discovered someone had fired upon her house.
“I knew right away it was political,” she said, recalling seeing the damage done by the bullets that whizzed through her living room and kitchen. “That year for the whole entire year we had election deniers coming to every meeting.”
The Democratic lawmaker laid the blame for the former GOP hopeful’s action squarely on the head of the Republican Party — President Trump.
“People don’t think that voice from the White House will reach all the way down to someone like Solomon Peña but it does,” Barboa said. “This could have been so different for him if he had a leader saying something positive, something uplifting, something true.”
What to know about the case: Ex-GOP candidate tied to shootings at NM lawmakers’ homes appears in court
Who else was Peña after?
The lawmakers that the failed GOP candidate targeted included significant elected officials in New Mexico.
Peña and crew committed shooting at these lawmakers’ homes on the following dates:
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Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa on Dec. 4, 2022: About eight rounds were fired at Barboa’s home, according to police. The shooting happened just after 3:30 p.m. and a pick-up truck was seen in the area by neighbors, according to a criminal complaint. A parked vehicle was also struck by gunfire.
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State Representative Javier Martínez on Dec. 8, 2022: More than a dozen shots were fired at Martínez’s home. His wife, the complaint reads, was home at the time of the attack and heard the gunfire erupt. Neighbors also told police they watched a pick-up truck speed away from the scene.
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Former Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley Dec. 11, 2022: At least 12 rounds were fired at the home of then-Commissioner O’Malley, according to the complaint. The attack on O’Malley came just days after Peña arrived at her home. “Debbie recalled that he was upset that he had not won the election for public office,” the complaint says. Video surveillance from her home showed Peña arrive at her house in a black 2022 Audi.
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State Senator Linda Lopez on Jan. 3, 2023: Police said Peña accompanied his gunmen to Lopez’s home and tried to shoot but his weapon – a machine gun – malfunctioned. Another man shot over a dozen rounds from a handgun, including into the bedroom of Lopez’s daughter. A preliminary investigation at the home found “sheet rock and dust was blown on Linda’s daughter‘s face in bed, resulting from firearm projectiles, passing inside her bedroom overhead.”
Barboa and O’Malley – now a state senator – certified Peña’s loss in the November 2022 midterm elections.
Martínez became Speaker of the House for the New Mexico House of Representatives in January 2023.
“Solomon Peña’s conviction demonstrates that political violence has no place in New Mexico. My family and I are grateful that our justice system worked as it should to hold him accountable for his actions,” he told USA TODAY. “As an elected official, my focus is on making life safer, better, and more affordable for families in our state and ensuring New Mexico remains a place where we respect each other’s opinions and work together for the common good.”
President Donald Trump raises a fist after a shooter fired upon the then candidate at a campaign rally before the 2024 US presidential election. Trump was rushed off stage with blood smeared across his face.
What was Peña running for?
Peña – before orchestrating the shooting spree – was running for a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives in the November 2022 midterm elections.
He lost a race for House District 14 – which covers part of Albuquerque – against longtime incumbent Democratic state Representative Miguel P. Garcia. Peña got 26% of the vote.
After the November election, Peña had posted on social media it was “rigged” and he would not concede despite losing his bid for the statehouse in a district that has been held by Democrats for years.
On Nov. 15, he posted an image of himself in a “Make America Great Again” hoodie, saying “Trump just announced for 2024. I stand with him. I never conceded my HD 14 race. Now researching my options.”
A spokesperson for the Republican Party of New Mexico did not respond to questions about how Peña became a GOP candidate.
Peña comes ‘knocking’
Senator O’Malley, the former commissioner, remembers she was asleep in bed when Peña fired on her house.
“I was just so surprised,” she told USA TODAY. “My husband and I sat up in bed at the same time. It seemed like someone was pounding on the door with their fist, ‘boom, boom, boom.’”
The shooting happened days after the shooting on fellow Commissioner Barboa’s house and O’Malley says her husband suspected a connection.
Later she realized it was the same man that had came knocking around the time of the election.
The two spoke at the gate outside of the house. He was “agitated” over the election results and denied losing. But she didn’t think him dangerous.
“I thought well this guy is delusional but I didn’t think that would translate into what he ended up doing,” she said. “I think he really thought somehow he was going to be a hero because of his allegiance to Trump and he’s now facing a very long time in prison.”
Contributing by Natalie Neysa Alund, a senior reporter at USA TODAY.
Michael Loria is a national reporter on the USA TODAY breaking news desk. Contact him at mloria@usatoday.com, @mchael_mchael or on Signal at (202) 290-4585.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From GOP loser to attempted political killer. Who did he target?
