Lawmakers, advocates clash at pro-Palestinian rally at Capitol

Yahoo

19-03-2025

Tensions boiled over during a pro-Palestinian rally in the state Capitol rotunda Tuesday after Reps. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, and John Block, R-Alamogordo, were accused by attendees of antagonizing demonstrators.
The rally, which featured New Mexico residents from Gaza who still had family there, was largely made up of poetry readings, song and comments bringing awareness to Israeli military strikes that have killed civilians, including journalists and other noncombatants. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed Monday in a wave of strikes that were launched as part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to break a ceasefire deal reached in January.
Advocates at the rally also called on New Mexico lawmakers and university leaders to divest from companies that provide weapons and other military supplies and services to Israel. The event was organized by a large coalition of groups that advocate for Palestinians, including Jewish Voice for Peace Albuquerque.
But about 45 minutes into the rally, the Republican representatives — who both said they have Jewish heritage — entered the Rotunda, immediately catching the eye of the crowd, and interrupted the speaker at the time.
'Rep. Lord and Rep. Block came down and instigated people that are here for Freedom for Palestine Day,' said Jonathan Juárez, who was in the crowd at the Rotunda and who watched the incident unfold. '… She was just antagonizing people, saying that they're Hamas supporters, saying just ridiculous statements that are really inflammatory.'
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Rep. Stefani Lord R-Sandia Park, right, laughs as she and Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, left, leave the Freedom for Palestine Day in the Rotunda at the state Capitol in Santa Fe on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
A group of advocates followed the lawmakers, who were flanked by security personnel, to the other end of the Rotunda, where Block and Lord turned and had some tense arguments.
'I'm a representative, do not touch me,' said Lord, who by then was surrounded by security and New Mexico State Police officers.
Demonstrators continued following them out of the Rotunda, with advocate Yazh Pending loudly shouting profanities at the representatives as they made their exit.
'She should not be in here antagonizing us, trying to get into the middle of a properly … organized event,' Pending said in an interview. 'It's disgusting.'
In an interview during the exchange, Block said he and Lord had come to see what was happening, and that they had encountered only intolerance.
'It's just horrible that there are people that want to erase our people, especially in this state where they claim to be so tolerant,' Block said. 'The least tolerant people I've seen today.'
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Rep. Stefani Lord R-Sandia Park, gets into a confrontation with Teresa Davis during the Freedom for Palestine Day assembly in the Rotunda at the state Capitol in Santa Fe on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
When Block and Lord first entered the room, the speaker at the podium asked the audience, 'does anybody in this room hate Jewish people?'
'No,' the crowd resoundingly responded.
Minutes later, when representatives convened on the House floor, Lord and Block said they were threatened during the incident, and that the demonstrators had terrorist propaganda — including a "makeshift bomb" and "terrorist outfits."
'This was so uncalled for I can't even begin to tell you how infuriating, and how insulting, and how demeaning this is to anyone who has any Jewish blood in them,' Lord said.
That said, propaganda related to terrorist groups was not readily visible during the rally. Lord said she advised the Legislative Council Service, which also manages security at the Capitol, that she and Block faced 'verbal assault.'
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Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, argues with people gathered for the Freedom for Palestine Day assembly in the Rotunda at the state Capitol in Santa Fe on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
Responding to the representatives' comments, House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, decried intimidation or threats of violence in any circumstance.
'I was not aware of that, and I'm very sorry that that happened,' he said.
Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, one of the Legislature's most vocal supporters of Israel, harshly criticized the event on the Senate floor Tuesday evening and questioned why it was allowed.
'We have employees that are Jewish that were hiding down here on the first floor because they were afraid to go on the second floor,' Brandt said Tuesday. 'And that's OK with us? It's not OK with me.'
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Members of House security engage with Teresa Davis, right, after Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park and Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, during the Freedom for Palestine Day assembly in the Rotunda at the state Capitol in Santa Fe on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, told Brandt 'more than him are concerned about this.' Stewart said 'two people were arrested [and] several others were removed from the Capitol,' citing a conversation she had with the director of the Legislative Council Service.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Wilson Silver said in an email one attendee of the event, Elliot Shawn Vigil, was removed for trespassing and told not to return, and was later arrested for violating that order.