-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A losing Republican candidate in N.M. is charged over shootings at homes of Democrats2
Police say that Solomon Peña, left, sent a co-conspirator this image showing himself in a car with José Trujillo, an accused gunman in several drive-by shooting attacks on Democratic officials' homes in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque Police Department
Solomon Peña, who unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat in New Mexico as a Republican last November, was arrested Monday in Albuquerque for allegedly paying four men to shoot at the homes of four elected officials, police said. They say Peña paid $500 — and that he took part in one shooting himself.
The criminal complaint against Peña includes chilling details. In one case, bullets tore through the walls of a 10-year-old girl's bedroom as she slept. Just before that attack, police allege4, Peña had urged the gunmen to aim lower when they shot at politicians' houses.
Charges against Peña, whom police call the "mastermind" behind the string of attacks, include conspiracy6 to commit a felony, shooting at an occupied dwelling7, and shooting from a vehicle. He was booked into the Albuquerque Metropolitan8 Detention9 Center late Monday.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina speaks about the arrest of Solomon Peña, seen at left in an image projected onto a screen.
Screenshot by NPR
Police accuse Peña of a political vendetta10
Peña, 39, allegedly hired the men to target the elected officials, all Democrats, texting the politicians' home addresses to the men before the residences were attacked. In one case, Peña had visited one of the officials one or two days earlier, appearing at her home unannounced to complain that the election was stolen from him.
The evidence against Peña includes confidential11 witness testimony12, cellphone records, bullet casings and surveillance footage, according to Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina. Court documents also show Peña appears to have taken a selfie with one of his accused co-conspirators.
A photo that police say was sent from the phone of Solomon Peña shows José Trujillo eating a hamburger while holding a pistol. Trujillo and others are named in a criminal complaint charging Peña with orchestrating a string of shootings.
Albuquerque Police Department
"APD essentially13 discovered what we had all feared, and what we had suspected, that these shootings were indeed politically motivated, and that has basically been confirmed by this investigation," Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, a Democrat1, said.
No injuries were reported from the shootings, but they set local and state politicians on edge, prompting law enforcement to look at ways to ensure elected leaders' safety.
"This type of radicalism15 is a threat to our nation that has made its way to our doorstep right here in Albuquerque," Keller said.
The violence broke out a month after the election
The first shooting happened on Dec. 4, when eight rounds were fired into the residence of Bernalillo County Commissioner16 Adriann Barboa. Four days later, the home of House Speaker Javier Martinez came under attack in the North Valley area. And on Dec. 11, more than a dozen shots were fired into the home of then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O'Malley.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, O'Malley and Barboa were two of the four county commissioners17 who voted unanimously to certify18 the general election results.
Barboa said she was coming home from Christmas shopping when she saw her home had been hit by gunfire.
"My house had four shots through the front door and windows, where just hours before my grandbaby and I were playing in the living room," she said in a statement. "Processing this attack is heavy, especially knowing that other women of color elected officials have also been targeted."
On Jan. 3, more than a dozen shots were fired at the home of state Sen. Linda Lopez.
Detectives had initially19 listed two additional shootings as being potentially part of the same pattern, but police now say they have no evidence linking those incidents to the others.
A 'spider' turned out to be a sign of gunfire
On Jan. 3, just before 1 a.m., automatic ShotSpotter sensors20 reported gunfire near Lopez's home. An officer who responded to the scene recovered shell casings, but saw no signs that bullets had struck anything. The state senator later said she heard loud bangs, which she attributed to fireworks.
But around the same time, Lopez's daughter, 10, came to her mother's bedroom saying "she believed a spider woke her up by crawling on her face," according to the criminal complaint. When Lopez took her daughter back to bed, the girl "asked why it felt like there was sand in the bed."
It wasn't until morning, when Lopez saw bullet holes in her house, that she realized what had happened and called police.
"As it turned out, sheetrock dust was blown onto Linda's daughter's face and bed resulting from firearm projectile(s) passing inside her bedroom overhead," the complaint states.
The last shooting brought a breakthrough
For the final shooting, Peña allegedly came along and pulled the trigger on one of the weapons, said Albuquerque Police Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock.
According to the criminal complaint, a confidential witness told detectives that Peña apparently21 took part because he was unhappy the bullets hit high on the homes and the shootings took place late at night.
Pena, the complaint states, "wanted them to aim lower and shoot around 8 p.m. because occupants would more likely not be laying down." The witness adds that the more aggressive approach made the gunmen uneasy "since they knew doing so would more likely end in death or injury."
About 40 minutes after the attack on Lopez's home, a sheriff's deputy pulled over a silver Nissan Maxima for a traffic stop related to the car's tags, and the driver, José Trujillo, was found to have an outstanding felony arrest warrant. When the car was searched, police found 800 pills of suspected fentanyl, a large amount of cash, and two guns in the trunk: an AR-15 style weapon and a Glock 17 with a drum magazine. Tests later confirmed that the Glock had been used in the shooting at Lopez's home.
The Maxima that Trujillo was driving was registered to Peña, according to law enforcement. It was stopped less than five miles from Lopez's home. Describing the attackers' methods, police say the gunmen apparently stole cars to carry out several attacks. A newly stolen red truck was used in the Lopez attack, police say, suggesting that when Trujillo was stopped, the alleged5 gunmen had already gotten rid of the stolen vehicle.
Police later got a search warrant for the cellphone of Demetrio Trujillo — whose relationship to José Trujillo isn't spelled out in court papers, but who is named as Pe?a's main co-conspirator. On it, investigators22 uncovered a trove23 of messages from Pe?a, including exact addresses of lawmakers who were targeted.
Peña got 26% of the vote last November
Last year, Peña ran for the District 14 seat of the New Mexico House of Representatives as the Republican nominee24, but he lost in the general election to Democratic incumbent25 Miguel Garcia, who won 73.6% of the vote.
Peña is a supporter of former President Donald Trump26, and upon Trump's announcement that he would be running for reelection in 2024, Peña tweeted, "I stand with him. I never conceded my HD 14 race. Now researching my options."
Peña's arrest comes a day before the New Mexico legislative27 session resumes.
"I hope, personally, too, our legislators can breathe a sigh of relief," Keller said. "They can go back to focusing on the legislative session. I also know that fundamentally, at the end of the day, this was about a right-wing radical14, an election denier who was arrested today, and someone who did the worst imaginable thing you can do when you have a political disagreement, which is turn that to violence."
收听单词发音 |
1
democrat
|
|
| n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
democrats
|
|
| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
transcript
|
|
| n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
allege
|
|
| vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
alleged
|
|
| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
conspiracy
|
|
| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
metropolitan
|
|
| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
detention
|
|
| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
vendetta
|
|
| n.世仇，宿怨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
confidential
|
|
| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
essentially
|
|
| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
radical
|
|
| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
radicalism
|
|
| n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
commissioner
|
|
| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
commissioners
|
|
| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
certify
|
|
| vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
initially
|
|
| adv.最初，开始 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
sensors
|
|
| n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
investigators
|
|
| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
trove
|
|
| n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
nominee
|
|
| n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
incumbent
|
|
| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
trump
|
|
| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
legislative
|
|
| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索