Grand jury charges ex-GOP candidate with election interference in shootings at lawmakers’ homes
A failed political candidate has been indicted on federal charges, including election interference, in connection with a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque, according to a grand jury indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.
The indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque takes aim at former Republican candidate Solomon Peña and two alleged accomplices with additional conspiracy and weapons-related charges in connection with the shootings in December 2022 and January of this year on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker.
Is it just me or is the use of the words “takes aim” REALLY unfortunate in the context of a story about someone engaged in shootings? Jesus fuck, NBC, find better phraseology…
Text messages in the indictment show the 40-year-old candidate bristling with outrage as Bernalillo County commissions certified the results of the midterm election and his own overwhelming defeat as candidate for a seat in the state House of Representatives. Federal authorities say Peña hired others to conduct the shootings and carried out at least one shooting himself.
Hours before the first shooting on Dec. 4, 2022, Peña texted a Republican political ally, who also lost a bid for state representative, to say that “we have to act. I’m continuing my study of election rigging. The enemy will eventually break.”
For me this begs the question of what he means by his “study of election rigging”. Is he trying to say he’s looking at how he thinks the election was rigged (cos I suppose some Republicans must actually believe that), or how he could rig the election himself? And why do I feel it’s the latter more than the former? Either way, I’m fairly sure that attempted murder isn’t the way to go about rigging an election… and what else to call it but attempted murder? Seems more accurate than “election interference”. Or maybe terrorism‘s a better term. Cos that’s what the right would be calling it if the positions were reversed, they’d be screaming for the death penalty if it were a Democrat shooter going after them… although if it were, the Republican targets would already have guns at the ready to shoot back…
