Last year, Solomon Peña was running for a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Now, he’s facing a potential 60-year prison sentence for an alleged shooting spree.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the 40-year-old former GOP candidate “organized the shootings on the homes of two Bernalillo County commissioners and two New Mexico state legislators,” after losing in the November midterm elections.
These shootings were carried out between Dec. 4 of last year and Jan. 3 this year.
An indictment for Peña was unsealed this week in the District of New Mexico charging him with conspiracy, interference with federally protected activities, and several firearms offenses, including the use of a machine gun. Demetrio Trujillo, 41 and Jose Trujillo, 22, helped carry out the shootings and have also been charged, said the DOJ.
“Before the shootings, Peña visited the homes of at least three Bernalillo County commissioners and allegedly urged them not to certify the election results, claiming that the election had been ‘rigged’ against him,” said the department. “Following the Bernalillo County board of commissioners’ certification of the vote, Peña allegedly hired others to conduct the shootings and carried out at least one of the shootings himself. At least three of the shootings occurred while children and other relatives of the victims were at home.”
In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, some Republicans have been vocal about election fraud conspiracies. Former President Donald Trump is a notable example, and he continues to make unfounded claims about voter fraud.
“There is no room in our democracy for politically motivated violence, especially when it is used to undermine election results,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As alleged, Solomon Peña orchestrated four shootings at the homes of elected officials, in part because of their refusal to overturn his election defeat. Such violent actions target not only the homes and families of elected officials, but also our election system as a whole. The department will not hesitate to hold individuals accountable for acts of politically motivated violence.”
If convicted, Peña faces a mandatory minimum of 60 years in prison. All defendants should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the DOJ noted.
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