…”The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later on January 20, 1986.”…to celebrate MLK Day schools get a day off, the banks are closed and federal buildings are closed…the Post Office…we’re supposed to do a day of service…the Albuquerque, New Mexico police “celebrated” by arresting Soloman Pena, a convicted felon who was the Republican nominee for a seat in the State House last November…he lost to the incumbent, Rep. Miguel P. Garcia, the Democrat…he was arrested as the person who was the kingpin in drive-by shootings of Democratic state officials…since early December and January…from The Washington Post by Kyle Rempfer and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff: “Former GOP candidate arrested in shootings at N.M. Democrats’ homes: A former Republican candidate for the New Mexico House was arrested Monday for allegedly orchestrating a series of drive-by shootings targeting Democratic state officials this winter, Albuquerque police said.
Solomon Pena, who lost the November election to incumbent Rep. Miguel P. Garcia (D), paid four other men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators, the Albuquerque police acting commander, Kyle Hartsock, said Monday at a news conference.
Five people were involved in the conspiracy, but it is unclear if all of the hired gunmen knew the targets were elected Democrats, according to police. The investigation remains ongoing, Hartsock said, and he wouldn’t specify how many of the suspects have been take into custody. Albuquerque SWAT officers arrested Pena, 39, on Monday afternoon.
“It is believed that he is the mastermind that was behind this, and that was organizing this,” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said of Pena.
The evidence investigators say they compiled against Pena includes firearms, cellphone records, surveillance footage and witnesses inside and outside the conspiracy.
After the election in November, Pena paid unnamed individuals in cash and sent text messages with addresses where he wanted them to carry out the shootings, according to a police statement.
“Within hours in one case, the shooting took place at the lawmakers home,” Hartsock said. “On the last shooting, we now have evidence that Pena himself went on this shooting and actually pulled the trigger on at least one of the firearms that was used.”
Sheriff’s deputies pulled over a car that someone else involved in the attack was driving about 40 minutes after the final shooting on Jan. 3, according to Hartsock.
“During that search, two firearms were recovered and at least one of them has been a direct match to the shooting that had just taken place,” Hartsock said. “The investigation is still ongoing. We’re still doing more warrants and interviewing more persons. We know we’re not at the end yet.”
The evidence investigators say they compiled against Pena includes firearms, cellphone records, surveillance footage and witnesses inside and outside the conspiracy.
After the election in November, Pena paid unnamed individuals in cash and sent text messages with addresses where he wanted them to carry out the shootings, according to a police statement.
“Within hours in one case, the shooting took place at the lawmakers home,” Hartsock said. “On the last shooting, we now have evidence that Pena himself went on this shooting and actually pulled the trigger on at least one of the firearms that was used.”
Sheriff’s deputies pulled over a car that someone else involved in the attack was driving about 40 minutes after the final shooting on Jan. 3, according to Hartsock.
“During that search, two firearms were recovered and at least one of them has been a direct match to the shooting that had just taken place,” Hartsock said. “The investigation is still ongoing. We’re still doing more warrants and interviewing more persons. We know we’re not at the end yet.”
Detectives served search warrants Monday at Pena’s apartment and at the home of two men who were allegedly paid by Pena to carry out the attacks, according to police. Pena did not talk to detectives after his arrest, police said, adding he is expected to be charged with several state crimes connected to shootings at four homes of Democratic officials.
In early January, Albuquerque police and federal agents began an investigation into whether the shootings that hit Democratic lawmakers’ homes this winter were connected or politically motivated.
“APD essentially discovered what we had all feared, and what we all suspected, that these shootings were indeed politically motivated,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (D) said Monday afternoon. “This individual was actually a candidate for office against a Democratic House member just in November.”
In each shooting, several rounds of gunfire hit the walls and doors of buildings, though no injuries were reported. Some elected officials wrote on social media about living in fear.
After losing the election in November, Pena allegedly visited the homes of three county commissioners and a state senator, said Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesperson for Albuquerque police. Pena complained about his loss, claimed it was rigged and argued at length with one of the officials.
Those officials all rejected his ideas to change the outcome of the election. That rejection, and the argument with one of the officials, may have played a role in who was targeted, Gallegos said.
“I never conceded my HD 14 race,” Pena wrote on Twitter on Nov. 15. “Now researching my options.”
In previous tweets, he also shared photos of what he said was his “Jan 06 trip” and called himself the “MAGA king” in another.
“This type of radicalism is a threat to our nation, and it has made its way to our doorstep,” said Keller, the mayor.
During the news conference Monday, law enforcement officials alleged that Pena was involved in four separate shootings that began in early December.
The first shooting happened on the afternoon of Dec. 4, when several shots were fired at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa in Southeast Albuquerque.
“In early December, I returned from Christmas shopping to my home being shot up. It was terrifying. My house had four shots through the front door and windows, where just hours before my grandbaby and I were playing in the living room,” Barboa wrote in a Facebook post.
The second shooting occurred early on the morning of Dec. 8, when several shots were fired at the home of House Speaker Javier Martinez in the North Valley.
A third shooting took place Dec. 11, when more than a dozen shots were fired at the home of Bernalillo Commissioner Debbie O’Malley in the North Valley. O’Malley said in an email to a local television news station that she and her husband were awaken by the sound of gunfire.
“To say I am angry about this attack on my home — on my family, is the least of it,” O’Malley wrote. “I remember thinking how grateful I was that my grandchildren were not spending the night, and that those bullets did not go through my house.”
And the fourth shooting occurred Jan. 3, when another dozen shots were fired shortly after midnight at the home of state Sen. Linda Lopez in Southwest Albuquerque.
Someone involved with the conspiracy is assisting authorities with the case, Hartsock said. On Monday evening, a SWAT team was conducting a second search warrant at a second location, Gallegos told The Washington Post.”…another election denier…he lost the election 75% to 25%…not even close to cry “fraud”…a MAGA guy who turned to violence as his alternate…it always has to be a Republican…
Biden spoke on King’s legacy…and will we choose democracy over autocracy?… choose a community over chaos?…choose love over hate?…”Dr. King’s life and legacy show us the way, and we should pay attention.”…
Rachel Maddow wrote the Introduction to a book coming out tomorrow…Pegasus by Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud…about Pegasus spyware…from Google Books: “Pegasus is almost certainly the most powerful piece of spyware ever developed. Installed by as little as a missed WhatsApp call, once on your phone it can record your calls, copy your messages, steal your photos and secretly film you. Those that control it can find out your daily movements: exactly where you’ve been, and who you’ve met.
From a wayward princess who married into the royal family of Dubai; to the president of one of the most powerful and long-standing Republics in Europe; and a reporter investigating arms deals being negotiated by the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Trump administration: these three individuals and many more have been targeted by Pegasus – with sometimes deadly consequences.
The personal data of the victims is captured by their own governments, foreign governments and even by private criminal enterprises. They have become, in an instant, vulnerable to blackmail, intimidation, false imprisonment and assassination. Some have already suffered these fates.
Pegasus by Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud investigates how people’s lives and privacy are being threatened as cyber-surveillance occurs with exponentially increasing frequency across the world, at a sweep and scale that astounds – and horrifies.”…yes, does it not make you horrified?…we love our phones…our hand-held computer, phone, camera…our privacy threatened and we don’t even know it’s been compromised…that’s a bummer…
meanwhile new details link George Santos, the lying cheated newly elected representative from New York…he was linked to the cousin of sanctioned Russian oligarch…from The Washington Post by Isaac Stanley-Becker and Rosalind S. Helderman: “The New York congressman once claimed Andrew Intrater’s company was his “client,” while another Intrater company allegedly made a deposit with a firm where Santos worked: George Santos, the freshman Republican congressman from New York who lied about his biography, has deeper ties than previously known to a businessman who cultivated close links with a onetime Trump confidant and who is the cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, according to video footage and court documents.
Andrew Intrater and his wife each gave the maximum $5,800 to Santos’s main campaign committee and tens of thousands more since 2020 to committees linked to him, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Intrater’s cousin is Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government for his role in the Russian energy industry.
The relationship between Santos and Intrater goes beyond campaign contributions, according to a statement made privately by Santos in 2020 and a court filing the following year in a lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a Florida-based investment firm, Harbor City Capital, where Santos worked for more than a year.
Taken together, the evidence suggests Santos may have had a business relationship with Intrater as Santos was first entering politics in 2020. It also shows, according to the SEC filing, that Intrater put hundreds of thousands of dollars into Santos’ onetime employer, Harbor City, which was accused by regulators of running a Ponzi scheme. Neither Santos nor Intrater responded to requests for comment. Attorneys who have represented Intrater also did not respond.”…just one more reason to get him out of the House…as if we needed one more?…
I hope you enjoyed your day off if you had one…grocery stores open, Produce Junction opened…Trio’s pizza open…I walked 1.2 miles just doing my errands…found a quarter and two pennies…
Art Salazar 