New Mexico

Alec Baldwin gets off scot-free of criminal charges from deadly ‘Rust’ shooting

16 Comments / New Mexico, News / By

Alec Baldwin’s attorneys have revealed that criminal involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor stemming from the fatal October 2021 Rust shooting resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins will be dropped.

“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident,” attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement.

Set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed still faces charges connected with the shooting, although attorneys are confident those charges will also be dropped. 

“We fully expect at the end of this process that Hannah will also be exonerated,” her attorneys, Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion say. 

“A third person involved in the on-set catastrophe, assistant director David Halls, previously pleaded no contest to a single count of petty misdemeanor negligent use of a deadly weapon. He had handed the gun to Baldwin before it was fired but neglected to make sure the gun didn’t hold live bullets,” according to the New York Post. 

Hutchins’ family’s attorney said it was “clear what happened.”

Baldwin “had the gun, he says he pulled the hammer back, it fired, and she was killed. … The experts will look at it and make any determinations, but we don’t think this was caused by any defect in the weapon.”

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins’ family, Baldwin rejected, arguing the family was being “misguided.”

Rust has since resumed filming this week at a new location in Montana. Baldwin is both starring in and producing the film. 

Organizers seek to overturn extreme laws via NM’s referendum process

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Organizers from across New Mexico through the group Better Together New Mexico seek to overturn extreme bills passed during the 2023 Legislative Session via ballot referendums. 

The group wrote on a sign-up form, “Did you know the legislature just took away many of your rights during this 2023 legislative session?” 

“Soon you will have NO RIGHT to secure elections because of HB 4 & SB 180. If HB 7, SB 13, SB 397 become law, parents will have NO RIGHT to be aware that their child is having an abortion or gender transitioning at school,” wrote the group.

“And because of HB 7, it’s now illegal for counties, cities, and even teachers to opt out of abortion and transitioning school clinics. These bills are just a few of the damaging bills that passed this year. You may hear about other bills to fight in the days to come. Are you frustrated by the government’s rule over your life? Now’s your chance to stop it!” 

The group noted, “We are gathering signatures for referendums to stop those bills before they become law and get them on the ballot in 2024 for the people to decide! 

Many of the extreme bills passed the legislature with virtually no Republican support, which fundamentally change the rights of parents and open up New Mecico’s elections to interference through corrosive election policies, such as an opt-in automatic absentee ballot list, among other measures. 

However, Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s office is trying to stop Better Together New Mexico from setting up the referendum.

The SOS office’s spokesman, Alex Curtas, told the Santa Fe New Mexican, “None of the requests submitted by Better Together New Mexico or affiliated individuals [have] met the strict legal requirements for referendum petitions, and it would be completely irresponsible for the Secretary of State to approve a referendum petition for circulation and signature by voters of this state if it is not in the format required by law and most importantly, if it is constitutionally exempt from being challenged by referendum petition.” 

He added, “To date, following the 2023 Legislative Session, the Secretary of State has not received a single petition that meets even the basic technical requirements as to form under [New Mexico] law.”

Larry Sonntag of Better Together New Mexico told the New Mexican, “She’s not doing her job of approving the format for the referendums to go forward.” He said she is putting up “unnecessary roadblocks,” claiming, “She’s kicked back some of them based on a hyphen or a comma. That type of red tape, governmental obstruction to what’s allowed in the Constitution is not acceptable.”

To find Better Together New Mexico’s sign-up form to collect signatures in your area of the state, click here.

Lujan Grisham tries playing the victim after being labeled a ‘murderer’

48 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

State Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) recently took to Twitter to characterize Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s comments supporting abortion up-to-birth as the governor being a “murderer.”

Following the tweet, Lujan Grisham’s office played the victim, telling the Santa Fe New Mexican, “Comments like these absolutely have the potential to incite violence, including to the governor, her family and colleagues.”

It is unclear how she equates being called a “murderer” to “inciting violence,” but she is well-known for name-calling of her own. 

She told New Mexico sheriffs who were unhappy with her anti-gun laws that they were “rogue sheriffs” having a “childish pity party,” and she called her political opponents “QAnon lizard people.”

Lujan Grisham’s former communications director Tripp Stelnicki called the Republican Party in New Mexico a “death cult” for not wanting to cripple small businesses with lockdowns.

She also Lujan Grisham applauded ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter rioters during the George Floyd riots who took to the streets to protest (many without masks or social distancing), writing, “This is a violation of the mass gatherings, no doubt, but we’re just going to take a leap of faith in protecting protesters who have no other way, quite frankly. Right? There’s no other way to be seen, to be heard, to be respected, and to be clear about your message.” This came while conservatives were met with scorn for protesting. 

However, when it comes to being labeled a “murderer” for signing laws to institute abortion up-to-birth in the state, squander $10 million in taxpayer funds for a new state-sponsored abortion mill, and sign laws to restrict local governments from following federal laws banning abortion drugs, she apparently can’t take the heat.

Rep. Block, who was elected in 2022, is the founder and editor of the Piñon Post and a longtime pro-life advocate, fighting on the frontlines for the right to life from conception to natural death. He sponsored New Mexico’s first-ever Heartbeat Bill, H.B. 258, during the 2023 Legislative Session to protect children in the womb from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected.

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Climate activists are ‘pissed’ after Lujan Grisham vetoed EV tax credits

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Following a veto by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for electric vehicle tax credits, which would help mostly the wealthy who can afford EVs, “climate change” groups are livid.

The tax credits were part of the massive omnibus tax package, which was mostly vetoed by Lujan Grisham. 

According to the Associated Press, “The state would provide a $2,500 refundable personal income tax credit toward the purchase of an electric vehicle — or up … to $4,000 for low-income residents, with an additional $300 credit for car-charging equipment and installation.” Those provisions died on the governor’s desk.

Dark money group Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA) spokesperson Sofia Jenkins-Nieto said she was “pissed” with the governor’s vetoes.

“In terms of the governor’s vetoes, of the few small green tax incentives that the 2023 legislature included in the budget – it’s outrageous that she wouldn’t even let that move forward for sure, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that was anywhere near what is needed,” Jenkins-Nieto said. “The legislature failed us, and it did so under the leadership of the governor.”

The far-left dark money group, the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter director Camilla Feibelman whined about the veto, saying, “Those five tax credits represented huge amounts of work and consensus and leadership from the House and Senate, and to have them summarily vetoed is hurtful and it’s harmful.”

The leftist Western Environmental Law Center wrote, “She promised New Mexicans she would act on climate, but has instead opposed multiple comprehensive climate bills and has now vetoed the only major climate action the legislature passed in 2023. Climate legislation is unlikely in 2024’s short budgetary legislative session—the halfway point for Lujan Grisham’s final term. Gov. Lujan Grisham’s promise of net zero emissions has disintegrated into net zero climate action while climate-caused fires and floods have turned large swaths of New Mexico into disaster areas.”

Co-coordinator of 350.org New Mexico, Tom Solomon, wrote, “This governor had a chance to expand the climate leadership she showed in 2019 by passing the ETA (Energy Transition Act). She did the opposite.”

Far-left state Sen. Carrie Hamblen (D-Las Cruces) claimed the state is “out of time” for “climate” action, saying in one report, “The plans have to be twice as aggressive in the next legislative session to approach and address these climate issues. We’re not running out of time anymore, we’re out of time.”

The whining comes after the governor signed 18 bills that the group Source New Mexico has labeled “Climate and Environmental Bills.” 

The governor’s spokeswoman Maddy Hayen claimed Lujan Grisham is a “national leader in the climate space,” adding, “We are by no means stopping there: the governor will continue to pursue meaningful, bold climate action measures in the next session and throughout her second term.”

Lujan Grisham tied for least popular governor in America

25 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to a new Morning Consult poll, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham remains one of America’s least popular governors, with 51 percent of respondents saying they approve of her, while 43 percent disapprove. 

She is the least popular governor in the country, tied with Democrat Jay Inslee of Washington state, with the same number of approvals and disapprovals.

Other unpopular governors include Greg Abbott of Texas (R), Tony Evers of Wisconsin (D), J.B. Pritzker of Illinois (D), and Tate Reeves of Mississippi (R). 

Lujan Grisham is up only three percentage points from the last Morning Consult governor poll taken before the 2022 midterm elections, which showed her at 48 percent approval, with 45 percent disapproving of her. 

She squeaked by in the 2022 election, garnering 52 percent of the vote to Republican Mark Ronchetti’s 45.6 percent. 

Screenshot of poll via Morning Consult: https://morningconsult.com/2023/04/19/joe-manchin-jon-tester-approval-rating/

Following the 2023 Legislative Session, both Democrats and Republicans were angered by the governor, with Democrats claiming she did not act enough on “climate change policies,” while Republicans remained furious over her many bad bills passed, including H.B. 7 to ban pro-life laws and H.B. 4 to rewrite New Mexico’s election code. 

Lujan Grisham is now termed-out as governor, and far-left Democrat U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich has reportedly made moves toward a gubernatorial run in 2026.

Morning Consult’s surveys were conducted “Jan. 1-March 31, 2023, among representative samples of registered voters in each state, with unweighted margins of error of +/-1 to 5 percentage points.”

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Haaland bursts into tears during tense congressional hearing

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During a U.S. House Natural Resources Committee hearing Wednesday, Joe Biden’s Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a former congresswoman from New Mexico, burst into tears while talking about “climate change.”

She said, “All of this is because climate change is the crisis of our lifetime!” claiming weather events were responsible for changes in temperature. “We can’t continue to be a one-industry country, referring to oil, gas, and coal.

WATCH:

Also during the hearing, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), chair of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, rebuked Haaland about the administration’s decision to ban new mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Stauber claimed Haaland had “no idea” what she was doing when her department issued the “ill-informed decision,” which he said, “has left the U.S. more dependent on China.”

Ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) came to Haaland’s defense, claiming Republicans were “berating” her during the tense hearing.

Politico reported the hearing to be “tense.”

Following the dissemination of the clip showing Haaland crying, the New Mexico-based Rio Grande Foundation think tank wrote, “Climate change is the official religion of the left. But they would rather abandon nuclear power than actually solve the problem.” 

In many previous congressional hearings where Haaland has testified, she has failed to answer basic questions that pertain to her role as Interior secretary. 

Haaland humiliated again during congressional hearing

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Colorado just became a ‘safe haven’ for minor gender transition ‘tourism’

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New Mexico’s neighboring state of Colorado just became the “first transgender tourism state,” according to the Daily Mail, which reported on three new laws signed by Democrat Gov. Jared Polis to allow children to travel for puberty blockers even if the drugs are banned in the states where they live.

“It makes Colorado a safe haven for children under-18 with gender dysphoria looking for puberty blockers, hormone therapies and sex change operations – which have been restricted in more than a dozen Republican states,” reports the Daily Mail. Children can now travel to the state and undergo gender reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy without their parents.

The other laws Polis signed include proposals similar to New Mexico’s, which harbors criminal abortionists from extradition to other states for abortion crimes.

“Colorado also became the first state in October 2021 to include transition-related care for transgender people as part of the requirements for essential health care in the state, meaning people looking to access those transition services will be able to use the health insurance they pay for to get the care they need,” noted the report. 

Republican states have moved to protect children from child mutilation, with states such as Indiana prohibiting minors from accessing hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries in the state.

New Mexico state Rep. John Block responded to Polis signing the bill, which he dubbed as “child mutilation trafficking.” 

He wrote, “New Mexico is known as the abortion up-to-birth trafficking state and now Colorado is known as the child mutilation trafficking state. God help us and may He save our children!”

During the 2023 Legislative Session, Democrats rammed through a bill, H.B. 207, which adds “gender identity” as a protected class under the state’s Human Rights Act. Block presented an amendment during the bill’s consideration that would protect children from efforts to force their gender ideology in school locker rooms and sports. That amendment died. 

Although New Mexico is not the first “transgender tourism state,” it is the first abortion up-to-birth state, stripping all protections for women, babies, and doctors in its 2021 legislation.

NM bill to harbor criminal abortionists signed into law

Vasquez trails other vulnerable Democrats in fundraising numbers

9 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s (NM-CD-2) recently filed Federal Election Commission (FEC) report, the first-term vulnerable Democrat is massively trailing other vulnerable Democrats in fundraising numbers and cash-on-hand balances.

According to Roll Call, “Of the 31 Democrats in seats that will be in play next year according to Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, the average incumbent raised $420,000 during the quarter and had $400,000 on hand on March 31.”

But Vasquez only raised $365,385.45 for the fundraising quarter, leaving him with a mere $303,273.52 cash on hand. Less than half of that was from New Mexico donors.

Last month, Vasquez was cited as one of the most vulnerable House Democrats with little money in the bank. 

“Among those who are most vulnerable is Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), who won his seat by only 0.6 percentage points in 2022 and whose race has been deemed a tossup by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Despite strong fundraising numbers resulting in a total of more than $3.6 million raised, Vasquez is starting off the 2024 campaign cycle with only $22,776 cash on hand,” reported the Washington Examiner. 

A majority of Vasquez’s lackluster campaign haul included $5,000 from U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s leadership PAC, Turquoise PAC, $5,000 from the Sen. Martin Heinrich-aligned Lobo PAC, $2,000 from the pro-mask, pro-lockdown NEA PAC, $1,000 from the League of Conservation Voters PAC, $1,000 from the anti-free speech End Citizens United PAC, and $1,000 from leftist Congressman Joe Neguse’s (D-CO) congressional campaign, among others.

The news also comes just one week following former Second Congressional District Congresswoman Yvette Herrell’s announcement in Las Cruces alongside U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that she is running to reclaim the District.

“It’s embarrassing Gabe Vasquez is coming up short on fundraising. Clearly, New Mexicans have taken notice of the way Vasquez has fallen in line with the extremist wing of the Democrat party during his first four months in Congress, and Republicans look forward to taking back this seat in 2024,” wrote National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokeswoman Delanie Bomar.

Dems panic over Herrell CD2 bid while national Republicans send endorsements

City takes on NM governor, AG in groundbreaking abortion pill lawsuit

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

During a press conference outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., the City of Eunice in Lea County, New Mexico, announced a new lawsuit against the state’s Democrat Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The lawsuit revolves around the governor’s recent signing of H.B. 7, preempting local governments from enacting pro-life laws that restrict abortion. It also comes as the state Supreme Court is set to rule on another case spurred by a lawsuit from Torrez regarding local governments and the Comstock Act. This Act relates to interstate commerce, prohibiting obscene materials from the passage between state lines.

“Federal law imposes criminal liability on every person who ships or receives abortion pills or abortion-related paraphernalia through the mail, an express service, a common carrier, or an interactive computer service,” the City of Eunice wrote in the lawsuit.

“These federal criminal prohibitions apply in every state, including states where abortion remains legal, and anyone who violates 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461 and 1462 is subject to five years’ imprisonment for a first violation and ten years’ imprisonment for each subsequent violation. The shipment or receipt of abortion drugs or abortion-related equipment is also a predicate offense under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, which subjects abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood- and each of their employees, volunteers, and donors -to civil and criminal liability under federal RICO.”

The City of Eunice passed an ordinance mandating abortion facilities comply with U.S. law, which trumps state laws.

“The Attorney General of New Mexico has sued other cities and counties that have enacted similar ordinances on the supposed ground that the Constitution of New Mexico confers a state-law right to act in violation of a federal criminal statute. And the New Mexico legislature recently enacted House Bill 7, which purports to confer a state-law right to ‘access or provide reproductive health care … within the medical standard of care’ and empowers the Attorney General to sue local jurisdictions that infringe this newly created state-law right.”

On the Supreme Court steps, local Eunice officials, including Mayor Billy Hobbs, state Sen. David Gallegos, and Councilwoman Erica Jones, Councilman Chris Hanie, were joined by pro-life leadersEthel Maharg of the Right to Life Committee of New Mexico, Southwest Coalition for Life’s Mark Cavaliere, Lea County Right to Life’s Lori Bova, Dr. Michael New of the Catholic University of New Mexico, Sister Dede Byrne, Mark Lee Dickson of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, GraceWay Baptist Church Pastor Brad Wells, and others. A live stream of the press conference can be seen here.

“Our attorney is providing local counsel for Eunice, and we will be bringing you updates as the case proceeds,” wrote the pro-life legal group Abortion On Trial, referencing attorney Mike Seibel. 

In an exclusive interview, Seibel told the Piñon Post, “The biggest testimony for New Mexico conservatives is they are willing to dig in and fight for what they believe is morally right,” adding, “The people are doing this, and I’m proud of them.”

Rep. John Block on ‘Tipping Point New Mexico’ podcast with Paul Gessing

2 Comments / New Mexico, Politics / By

On Friday, the Rio Grande Foundation (RGF) released its Tipping Point New Mexico podcast featuring state Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo), who is also the founder and editor of the Piñon Post.

Block recently ranked the highest among all other legislators on the 2023 Freedom Index.

RGF’s President Paul Gessing asked Block about the 2023 Legislative Session and other topics in the “wide-ranging” discussion.

Watch the entire interview here:

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