NM GOP renews call for special session on crime after alleged arson at Albuquerque headquarters

Yahoo

01-04-2025

Amy Barela, chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico, gestures toward the charred front entrance of the party's Albuquerque headquarters on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
Republicans from across New Mexico gathered in front of charred front doors to the party's Albuquerque headquarters Monday, saying a weekend fire they believe is arson is more proof that Democrats in charge of the Legislature failed to adequately address crime during a 60-day legislative session that ended a little over a week ago.
State Republican leaders say the fire early Sunday morning was politically motivated arson. According to Albuquerque Fire Rescue, the blaze occurred a little before 6 a.m., causing damage to the front entryway and smoke damage throughout the building. No one was injured and the fire was extinguished within five minutes, according to AFR.
The cause is being investigated, AFR and Republican leaders said.
The FBI and ATF are investigating, according to AFR and Republican officials. As of Monday afternoon, no search warrants had been filed, according to a Source New Mexico review of federal court records.
Along with the fire damage, someone stenciled 'ICE=KKK' in red spray paint on the side of the building. The stencil was partially covered with plywood before the news conference Monday afternoon.
The news conference came after a day of sniping between Democrats and Republicans over who is to blame for the deterioration of political discourse here.
Republicans cited a Santa Fe town hall meeting Saturday when U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) called on attendees to 'agitate' as part of a strategy to combat President Donald Trump's agenda, along with 'legislate' and 'litigate.' The party also circulated a fundraising appeal with the headline 'They tried to silence us.'
The Democratic Party of New Mexico condemned the alleged arson but said Republicans were 'maliciously and falsely' claiming the congresswoman's call for political organizing amounted to incitement of violence.
'Nothing could be further from the truth,' Chair Jessica Velasquez said in a statement.
The New Mexico Democrats statement also cited the recent conviction of Solomon Peña, a failed Republican state House candidate, for shooting up the homes of prominent Democratic lawmakers. (No one was injured.)
Asked Monday afternoon whether the Republican party overreacted by blaming Leger Fernandez's town hall meeting, Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington), the New Mexico Senate minority leader, said he wished to take the temperature down.
'What I'm looking for right now is to tone down the rhetoric by everybody. Calm down,' he said. 'Because somebody's going to get hurt.'
Multiple speakers sought to link the alleged arson to what they say is out-of-control crime, adding it to a list with the March 21 mass shooting in Las Cruces, plus murders and carjackings.
'This attack is a symptom of something far larger,' said Amy Barela, chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico. 'A growing wave of emboldened, unchecked crime across our state.'
A report last summer by the Legislative Finance Committee found that violent crime in Bernalillo County has plateaued since 2017.
Right after the final gavel of the 60-day legislative session, Republican leaders called on Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to call lawmakers back for a special session focused on increasing criminal penalties.
Lujan Grisham has said she shares Republicans' concerns and will likely call such a session. She hasn't yet said when it would occur.