yates OiL

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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://searchlightnm.org/who-backed-solomon-penas-campaign/</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnc pix</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">before he was accused on Monday of orchestrating a series of drive-by shootings at elected officials’ homes, Solomon Pena mounted a modest campaign against a longtime incumbent in a solid blue Albuquerque district. He failed to make a strong showing at the ballot box, but that didn’t stop him from successfully courting one of New Mexico’s most influential conservative voices.

<b>On Sept. 28, Jalapeño Corporation — the company led by 80-year-old Harvey E. Yates Jr., a prominent New Mexico oilman and former chair of the state’s Republican Party — donated $5,000 to Pena’s fledgling campaign.</b>

Yates said he met Pena about two years ago at a local Republican Party meeting. At the time, Pena struck him as a “respectful, polite young man,” Yates told Searchlight New Mexico.

When Pena filed to run last year for the District 14 seat in the state House of Representatives, Yates said he was willing to give him a chance, even after Pena’s criminal record came to light.

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I, at that time, had become aware that he had a criminal history but that he was trying to reform himself,” said Yates, when he was reached by phone on Wednesday. “I believe in redemption and helping a guy if he’s really trying to do that. So I donated to him, or the company donated to him. It also donated the same amount to probably 20 other candidates.”</span>

Campaign finance records show that Pena received financial support from numerous New Mexico Republicans as well as from one of the men now accused of helping him carry out the shootings.

Yates said he was “extremely saddened” when he heard that Albuquerque police had accused Pena of masterminding a string of drive-by shootings in December and January.

After soundly losing the November election, police say he hired four people to shoot up local politicians’ homes. One state senator told police that a bullet whisked through a bedroom in her southwest Albuquerque home, flying so low that it blew dust from the wall onto her sleeping 10-year-old daughter’s face.
Police say Demetrio Trujillo’s phone contained this photo of José Trujillo, biting into a hamburger and pointing a gun in the air. Courtesy of Albuquerque Police Department.
Pena’s biggest funders

Pena’s interest in politics was seemingly kindled by the Trump presidency, according to his own social media posts, in which he referred to himself as “the MAGA king.” But betting on the 39-year-old candidate was from the start a long shot. His opponent, Miguel Garcia, had already filled the seat for 26 years.

The Democrat incumbent also asked a judge to bar Pena from running, citing his 2008 conviction in a string of burglaries and the fact that he spent several years in prison. The judge denied the request, and Pena managed to raise nearly $24,000, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office, compared to Garcia’s nearly $41,000.

Pena’s filings were fairly sparse, but they shine a light on how his failed campaign — he only garnered 26 percent of the vote — made it as far as it did.

Once he won the uncontested primary with 384 votes, support started trickling in: $104 from a Sandoval County official, $150 from a former state lawmaker and $5,000 from Yates’ company.

<b>Among his largest contributors were José Louise Trujillo, who donated $5,155</b> — $155 more than Yates — and Melanie Griego, who gave $4,000. Trujillo now stands accused of being one of the four drive-by shooters. Griego is Trujillo’s mother, several family members confirmed to Searchlight.

Trujillo, 21, and his father, Demetrio Trujillo, are both accused — along with two unnamed brothers — of conspiring with Pena to carry out the shootings.
The investigation

The first shooting occurred more than a month ago, when Bernalillo County Commission Vice Chair Adriann Barboa called police to report gunshots at her house. The most recent, on the night of Jan. 3, occurred at the home of State Sen. Linda Lopez (D). One bullet was fired so low, she told police, that “sheetrock dust was blown onto” the face of her sleeping 10-year-old daughter.

Less than an hour later, a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy initiated a traffic stop just five miles from Lopez’s house. Deputy J Skroch, as he is identified in court documents, had pulled over José <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trujillo, who was driving a Nissan Maxima registered to Pena. Inside the car, police reported finding more than 800 fentanyl pills, a wad of cash, an assault rifle and a Glock handgun equipped with a drum magazine. Drum magazines significantly expand the amount of ammunition a handgun holds. Trujillo now faces federal charges stemming from that arrest.
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As police worked to connect the incidents, they obtained a search warrant for Demetrio Trujillo’s cell phone. According to police, it was filled with text messages from Pena listing the exact addresses for each of the four elected officials whose homes were attacked. They said it also contained photos: one of a Glock handgun with a drum magazine, one of José Trujillo pointing a gun into the air and biting into a Whataburger, and another of Pena and Trujillo posing together for a selfie.

<b>In court documents, police say a confidential witness with “personal and intimate knowledge of the crimes” informed them that Pena had offered Demetrio and two unnamed brothers a total of $500 for the first shooting. The money was divided among the three, the witness told police</b>.

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The witness also told police that Pena participated in the shooting at Lopez’s home, but his gun jammed.</span>

Pena was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center outside Albuquerque early Tuesday morning and faces 14 felony charges and one misdemeanor charge, including shooting at a dwelling or occupied building and shooting at or from a motor vehicle.
Albuquerque police say they recovered this photo of Solomon Pena and Jose Trujillo, whom Pena is accused of hiring in his alleged drive-by shooting scheme. Courtesy of Albuquerque Police Department.

TIMELINE OF THE FOUR SHOOTINGS

Dec. 4, 2022: Bernalillo County Commission Vice Chair Adriann Barboa calls the police to report gunshots fired at her house. Police test bullet casings found inside a nearby vehicle and match them with the ones found at Barboa’s home.

Dec. 8, 2022: New Mexico Speaker of the House Javier Martinez’s home is struck by gunfire. His wife was inside the home when she heard the shots, police say

Dec. 11, 2022: Police detect 12 shots fired at the home of then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, who called police five days later to report the gunshots. Pena had come to her house a day or two before the gunshots, she told police, and had voiced his displeasure that he lost his election.

Jan. 3, 2023: Shots are fired at the home of state Sen. Linda Lopez. “Sheetrock dust was blown onto” her 10-year-old daughter’s face from the gunshots, police said.
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">related? BTB 2 shooters donors 4k$ tho cashier and security gd, biggest 5k$ yates oil; one drove into protestors
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">got nom tho 19 prev felonies?!</font></div><div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Solomon Peña, a New Mexico GOP candidate who lost a November election, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>was arrested </u></a>as a key suspect in a series of drive-by shootings that specifically targeted Democratic lawmakers’ homes,<em> </em></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Associated Press reports.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Peña

suggested that the election was “rigged” after he lost to incumbent

state Rep. Miguel P. Garcia by approximately 3,600 votes.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NBC reported <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/spiral-violence-fear-creating-angst-many-voters-ahead-midterm-election-rcna55740" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>in November</u></a> that

many “Republicans fear democracy is in peril because they believe that

elections are rigged against them” and that former president Donald

Trump’s false claim of voter fraud have encouraged his supporters to

“use force or intimidation” — hence the Jan. 6 insurrection. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peña <a href="https://twitter.com/SolomonPena2022/status/1592012995902640129?s=20&t=BWXO7BKrib-BJANFaoTM7Q" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">has confirmed</a> in a tweet that he was in Washington, D.C. on the day of the attack.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/january-6-committee-2658988065/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>Law professor’s Jan. 6 takeaway: the 'threat of political violence' is 'far from over'</strong></u></a></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Later that month, Peña also <a href="https://twitter.com/SolomonPena2022/status/1592733859216773120?s=20&t=BWXO7BKrib-BJANFaoTM7Q" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">tweeted a photo</a> of

himself wearing a "Make America Great Again" sweatshirt, with the

caption "Trump just announced for 2024. I stand with him. I never

conceded my HD 14 race. Now researching my options." Around the same

time, the 39-year-old Albuquerque resident took it upon himself to show

up at the homes of elected officials uninvited, in an attempt to prove

that he won the election. Not too long after that, the shootings <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>began on December 4</u></a>.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Harold Medina, Albuquerque Police Chief <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>called Peña a “mastermind”</u></a> of

a “politically motivated conspiracy” that resulted in the shootings,

which occurred at the homes of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann

Barboas, New Mexico Rep. Javier Martinez, Bernalillo County Commissioner

Debbie O’Mally — whose home received “more than a dozen rounds” of

bullets — and lastly, New Mexico Senator Linda Lopez, who confirmed that

three bullets grazed her 10-year-old daughter’s room.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peña, although the key suspect, is not the only one. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>“failed Republican candidate”</u></a> paid

four other men cash to execute the shootings using stolen cars,

although he, himself, did “pull the trigger” in one of the shootings</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A

few hours after investigators detected gunfire rippling through Sen.

Lopez’s neighborhood, an officer discovered bullet casings in a car

driven by </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Jose Trujillo</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and registered under Peña’s name. The car contained over 800 fentanyl pills and two firearms.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><u><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/mccarthy" target="_self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>New report destroys GOP talking points blaming Dems for crime: Trump states have 8 out of the 10 highest murder rates</strong></a></u></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The

New Mexico GOP responded to Peña’s arrest in a statement, saying, “If

Peña is found guilty, he must be prosecuted to the full extent of the

law.”</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">More arrests and charges <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>are on the horizon</u></a>, according to police, and the investigation remains ongoing.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/not-just-an-aberration-gop" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>'Not just an aberration': Hillary Clinton blasts the GOP's embrace of calls for political violence</strong></u></a></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div></div>