Solomon Peña was clearly defeated in the November elections for the Chamber of Deputies. He is said to have ordered four men to carry out attacks.
A criminal case has reignited the debate over political violence in the US. A losing candidate in the New Mexico state legislative race has been jailed for inciting attacks on political opponents. The arrest warrant for Republican Solomon Peña, released by CNN on Wednesday, alleges that Peña instigated four men to murder four Democrats. No one was injured in the attacks.
The mayor of Albuquerque, Democratic politician Tim Keller, said he assumed the crime was politically motivated based on the results of the investigation. It is an attack on democracy. “This type of radicalism is a threat to our nation,” Keller said on Monday.
In the November election for the New Mexico House of Representatives, Peña was clearly defeated by his Democratic opponent. Peña tweeted that he did not accept the election result and expressed sympathy for former US President Donald Trump. To this day, Trump also does not recognize his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and continues to publicize his allegations of voter fraud. A US House of Representatives Committee of Inquiry held Trump responsible for the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol. Critics accuse Trump of inciting others to political violence through his posturing.
(APA/DPA)