N.M. Democrats throw more fuel on fire after suspected arson at GOP's HQ
ALBUQUERQUE — Standing before a scorched entryway, Republican Party of New Mexico officials said Monday a suspected arson attack on GOP headquarters early Sunday morning is a symptom of a much larger problem: unchecked crime across the state.
"We must reject the rhetoric that fuels division and instead come together to restore law, order and respect for one another," GOP Chairwoman Amy Barela said during a news conference outside the charred headquarters in northwestern Albuquerque.
Lt. Jason Fejer, a spokesperson for Albuquerque Fire Rescue, said Sunday an arson investigation was underway — a joint effort between the fire department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. No one was injured in the incident.
In a statement Sunday, Barela suggested Democrats were to blame. She took a different tone Monday.
"This isn't about the left or the right. It's about right or wrong," she said.
She might have spoken too soon.
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Drew Tagliapietra and her husband, Danny Tagliapietra, hold up a large U.S. flag during a news conference Monday regarding a fire at the Republican Party of New Mexico's Albuquerque headquarters.
While Barela was at the podium, the Democratic Party of New Mexico threw more gas on the fire, issuing a no-holds-barred news release accusing the state's Republican Party of a history of political violence and associations with extremism.
Among the Democratic Party's bullet points: "Calling for murder."
Republican Reps. John Block of Alamogordo and Stefani Lord of Sandia Park and Sen. Nicole Tobiassen of Albuquerque "have all been active on social media spreading a false narrative about the vandalism of the RPNM office and all three were at a 2023 rally and were part of an agitated crowd that called for the murder of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham," the news release states.
Block and Lord were incensed.
"The Democrat Party of New Mexico has sunk to a new low by sending out a libelous email with ludicrous accusations," Lord said in a statement.
Block issued a statement saying, "Democrats are now victim-blaming in an attempt to hide their own Teresa Leger Fernández's inciting words to 'agitate' mere hours before the New Mexico Republican headquarters was firebombed."
He was referring to a town hall the Democratic congresswoman hosted Saturday in Santa Fe, where she encouraged supporters to "legislate, litigate, agitate" in response to changes made under President Donald Trump.
"When radical Democrats don't get their way, they get desperate — and violent," Block said.
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The scorched entryway doors of the Republican Party of New Mexico's Albuquerque headquarters.
Tobiassen said in a statement Democrats "are grasping at straws because New Mexicans are fed up with their failed leadership, especially here in crime-ridden Albuquerque. I have never called for violence — let alone for the murder — of anyone and DPNM knows that."
'Rhetoric is getting out of hand'
The Democratic Party's news release cited other examples "of the close associations the New Mexico GOP has had in recent years with violent extremism," including a series of shootings targeting Democratic politicians' homes in Albuquerque that were orchestrated by a failed Republican candidate.
Solomon Peña was convicted of federal charges in March in a series of drive-by shootings after the 2020 election.
The news release also pointed to a shooting that wounded an Indigenous protester in Española by a man wearing a Make America Great Again hat.
"Can RPNM Amy Barela ever be counted on to call out extremism from Republicans?" the news release asked.
"We know she looks up to GOP leaders who have called for violence against Democratic elected officials like Kari Lake, who said Americans should 'strap on a glock' ahead of the 2024 elections, and Marjorie Taylor Green who indicated support for FBI agents to be 'hung for treason' and the execution of prominent Democrats," the news release said.
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Antony Aemisegger rests his U.S. flag over his shoulder, a flag that has accompanied him to more than 20 rallies and events, while speaking with other attendees outside the Republican Party of New Mexico's Albuquerque headquarters on Monday.
It included photos of Barela with Lake, who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat, and Taylor Green, a far-right Georgia congresswoman.
GOP spokesperson Ash Soular said the Democratic Party's news release was the opposite of turning down the rhetoric.
"It's time to put as much of that as we can behind because the problem is the crime," she said. "Obviously, the rhetoric is getting out of hand nationally and possibly contributed to [the suspected arson]. We don't know. We're not saying it did, but we just want it to stop."
The Republicans are not free of blame.
In a news release announcing what the GOP called a "deliberate act of arson" on its headquarters early Sunday, Barela threw shade at the Democratic Party.
"Let us not forget: it was the Democrat Party that once supported the formation of the KKK, pushed Jim Crow laws, and defended slavery," she said in a statement. "Today, we see the same dangerous tendencies play out in new forms."
In addition to the fire, the words "ICE=KKK" were spray-painted on the GOP building.
State Senate Republican leaders also pointed to Democrats after the incident, citing Leger Fernández's town hall. They said in a statement "it appears some unhinged supporters" took her message "to heart and acted out in a violent manner."
They called on Democrats to "turn down the rhetoric and restore civility to our political process.'
Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer of Farmington reiterated the call for civility during Monday's news conference, where Republicans waved a figurative white flag.
"The violence that's brought us here today is yet another example of New Mexico's ongoing crime crisis," Sharer said, adding Republican leaders in both chambers urged the governor to call a special session the day the regular 60-day session ended to address ongoing crime.
"The time is now," he said. "Let's turn the temperature down and work together."
In an interview after the news conference, Sharer said Republicans "came in here to tone the rhetoric down."
"That's today," he said. "I think that's important."
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