Solomon Pena[a] (born April 1983)[1] is an American political candidate who was the Republican nominee for the 14th district of the New Mexico House of Representatives in 2022.
He attracted national attention when he was arrested on January 16, 2023, for allegedly hiring men to shoot at various Democratic politicians in response to his loss in the November election.
[3] In 2008, Pena was sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing large amounts of electronics[4] and other goods from at least four Albuquerque retail stores, including a Kmart,[5] as part of a wider smash-and-grab scheme.
[8] Pena was also a follower of the LaRouche movement, having donated over $5,000 to their political action committee LaRouchePAC and having tabled for the group at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
Before the election, Democrats attempted to disqualify Pena, citing his extensive criminal history, with Garcia filing a lawsuit against him.
[16] Pena made various inflammatory remarks on his Twitter account, including once calling New Mexico state house representative Rebecca Dow "a prostitute," calling a female user on the site "ugly," and telling then federal house representative-elect Gabe Vasquez to "get the fuk [sic] outta here," upon Vasquez proclaiming victory in the November election.
He reportedly disliked how late shooters would attack, since the occupants of the houses would likely be asleep by that time, and instructed them to come around 8 pm MST when they would be awake.
[16] On December 4, 2022, at 4:41 pm MST, an unidentified individual fired eight rounds at the house of Bernalillo County commissioner Adriann Barboa in southeast Albuquerque.
[18][21] O'Malley informed police and while they were investigating, she recalled that Pena had arrived at her house "a day or two" before the shooting to express his anger at not winning and complain about the election results.
Three gunshots were fired into her 10-year-old daughter's room, who according to Lopez, believed that a spider was on her face and had woken her up, in addition to feeling that sand was in her bed.
[23][24] Early in the morning of December 10, multiple shots were detected in the vicinity of the now current New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez's former campaign office in Albuquerque.
[25] By that time, Torrez had already moved out of said office, however, the Albuquerque Police Department's (APD) ShotSpotter system detected multiple gunshots in the area.
[27] At 11:41 MST on January 5, the APD's ShotSpotter system detected three gunshots in the area of a law office in Downtown Albuquerque where New Mexico senator Moe Maestas works.
Trujillo was detained for an unrelated felony charge, upon which police searched his car, unveiling what was believed to be 800 pills of fentanyl, as well as numerous firearms and the fact the silver Nissan Maxima he was driving was owned by Pena.
Police stated that they were able to track Pena via text messages he sent to the shooters, informing them of the addresses of the homes of the individuals and also the cash that he granted to them.
One of his text messages included a message from the book Stuffing the Ballot Box, a 2002 academic study regarding fraud and electoral reform in Costa Rica: "It was only the additional incentive of a threat of civil war that empowered a president to complete the reformist project," which was seen an expression regarding the idea of an upcoming civil war within the United States.
He was charged with "receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm or destructive device by certain persons," shooting at dwelling or occupied building without great bodily harm, shooting at or from a motor vehicle without great bodily harm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit a felony, and unlawful criminal solicitation.
Republican House leader Ryan Lane stated on January 18 that "this is yet another example of a convicted felon unlawfully gaining access to firearms, which they are barred from owning or possessing, and using the weapon in a manner that causes public harm.