Albuquerque

Unidentified gunman at large after shooting up Dem politicians’ ABQ homes

9 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In a strange turn of events in Albuquerque, multiple metro-area lawmakers and local officials’ homes and places of business were shot up in drive-by shootings. The shootings mysteriously didn’t hit a single person, which has raised questions.

The politicians who were apparently targeted included outgoing Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, Commissioner Adriann Barboa, and two legislators. Sen. Linda Lopez and newly appointed Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas were apparently targeted, although gunshots were heard near Maestas’ office, not his home.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is still investigating the cause of the shots, but APD Chief Harold Medina said, “The evidence will lead us. … The investigation hopefully will determine what’s related and what’s not related,” Medina said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. “But we want to assure everybody that we are taking this seriously,” according to the Albuquerque Journal.

The first shooting happened on December 4, 2022, at Barboa’s residence around 4:41 p.m., which is strange because it was still light outside when it happened. On December 11, someone fired at O’Malley’s home, while Lopez’s home was shot at around midnight on Tuesday. 

O’Malley said that her home is not easily accessible, and that is why she believes she was targeted. “Somebody wanted to hit this house,” she commented.

The Journal noted that on Thursday, “city ShotSpotter technology detected three shots fired in the vicinity of a Downtown building where Maestas has an office. Police said they found no damage to the building. Maestas did not respond to a Journal message Thursday afternoon seeking comment.”

One connection all the lawmakers have is that they all were involved in one way or another in the appointment of Maestas to the state Senate in November, while his former seat in the state House garnered controversy from many on the left regarding who should fill it. It ultimately led to educator Marsella Duarte holding the seat until the end of the year. Another person will have to be appointed to fill the vacancy for the new term beginning January 17, 2022.

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ABQ begins deadly 2023 with first homicide investigation launched

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2022 appeared to be the deadliest year on record in Albuquerque, but 2023 may be looking to rival the previous year with a brand new homicide investigation started on New Year’s Day.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, “Officers responded to reports of a man lying in the street shortly before 5 a.m. in the 7800 block of Central NE, which is near Pennsylvania, said APD spokeswoman Rebecca Atkins in a statement.”

Atkins said, “When officers arrived, the male was deceased and the Homicide Unit was called out to further investigate.”

In 2022, Albuquerque broke its 114 homicide investigation record with 121 homicides in 2021. The city broke its highest homicide record in 2021, and it has only grown since. 

According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data from 2021, New Mexico ranked as the state with the second-highest crime rate in the nation, with crimes affecting 2.19% of the population. 

In 2021, for every 100,000 New Mexicans, law enforcement reported 2,189 crimes against persons or affecting 2.92% of the population. The only state with worse overall crime was Arkansas, with 2,276 crimes per 100,000 people. 

Albuquerque is one of the ten deadliest cities in the United States, according to SafeWise. 

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ABQ Journal endorses Ronchetti, snubbing MLG and her ‘sketchy’ record

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On Sunday, The Albuquerque Journal, a left-leaning paper, refused to endorse Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for re-election, instead endorsing Republican nominee Mark Ronchetti.

The news comes as a major snub to Lujan Grisham, who is the only top Democrat on the ticket not to earn the Journal’s endorsement. Democrats, including Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Second Congressional District candidate Gabe Vasquez, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of the Third District, and Rep. Melanie Stansbury of the First District, among others, all have the stamp of approval from the paper. The Journal has the largest circulation of any other print paper in the state.

The paper wrote in its editorial, “Violent crime is harming, traumatizing and quite literally killing too many New Mexicans. Property crime, paired with the national economic downturn and pandemic closures, continues to hurt residents and business owners financially. Not enough of the record billion-dollar revenues from oil and gas has been invested in lasting infrastructure that will improve lives for decades to come. And four years into her administration, our governor’s promised ‘education moonshot’ has yet to launch as our children, especially our minority and low-income children, fall further and further behind. We simply cannot afford four more years of the same.”

The paper chided Lujan Grisham for her failure on education, public safety, the Children, Youth & Families Department, emergency powers, the border, divisiveness, checks and balances, and more.

“Lujan Grisham has contributed to the toxicity of our politics by name-calling those who have disagreed with her policies. In four State of the State speeches, she has never mentioned the contributions of the oil and gas industry or acknowledged its 42,000 direct and 134,000 indirect workers in New Mexico,” wrote the editorial board.

The paper called Lujan Grisham’s education plans “sketchy” while blasting her for going through multiple education secretaries, which has led to uncertainty in the Public Education Department, not to mention lower educational scores for children. 

“Ronchetti is a meteorologist and television weatherman who, unlike Lujan Grisham, has not served on a county commission, in a state Cabinet post, in Congress or governed from the fourth floor of the state Capitol. But we have to look at what all her experience has actually delivered. First on too many of the bad lists. Last on too many of the good ones,” The Journal added. 

Lujan Grisham has gotten the support of far-left papers that have almost exclusively endorsed Democrats, such as the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Santa Fe Reporter.

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ABQ passes grim homicide milestone

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In Democrat Mayor Tim Keller’s crime-ridden Albuquerque, Keller’s Police Chief Harold Medina confirmed to KOB 4 that Sunday’s homicide near Kathryn and Palomas NE was the city’s 100th this year — a grim milestone for the city. 

With over three months until the end of the year, Albuquerque is on track to surpass last year’s historic high of 117 killings within city limits, making 2022 likely the deadliest year on record in Democrat-run Albuquerque.

KOB’s Giuli Frendak wrote that Medina “doesn’t see the rate slowing down, and we could surpass last year’s number.” 

The tragic news of Sunday’s homicide came after Calvary Church security guard, 61-year-old Daniel Bourne, was killed Friday by 35-year-old suspected murderer Marc Ward. 

KOAT 13 reported, “A spokesperson with APD says Bourne noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot, and notified his supervisor around 9 pm Friday. Bourne then took photos of the vehicle and sent them to the supervisor. Later, the supervisor went to the church to check on Bourne, when he found him in a nearby arroyo.” 

Ward was taken into custody after officers found the victim on the 4000 block of Osuna Rd. NE. He has three previous charges of domestic violence, two charges of aggravated battery, and charges of criminal sexual contact with a minor — specifically a minor under the age of 13. With New Mexico’s lax laws, dangerous criminals like Ward remain on the street and out of jail.

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ABQ City Council votes 5-4 to force taxpayers to fund Planned Parenthood

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On Monday, the Albuquerque City Council reaffirmed its previous vote to force city taxpayers to fork over $250,000 to fund the Planned Parenthood corporation, which kills babies in the womb.

Despite claiming the partnership with the abortion company was only for necessary medical procedures, it would still force Albuquerque taxpayers to fund abortions.

New Mexico Alliance for Life wrote on Facebook following the vote, “ABQ City Council Votes 5-4 to Keep Forced Taxpayer Abortion Funding. Pro-Abortion ABQ Republican Trudy Jones Votes with Radical Dems.”

In a previous email from the group, it wrote, “This unprecedented action of the Albuquerque City Council to directly fund a multi-million [dollar] abortion corporate empire is not only an abuse of taxpayer funds but goes against 73% of Americans who oppose taxpayer-funded abortions.”

73% of Americans, including pro-choice individuals, women, and millennials, oppose mandated taxpayer funding of abortions, according to a recent Marist/Knights of Columbus poll.

In a previous op-ed from New Mexico Sun, City Councilor Renee Grout wrote, “This is not a simple disagreement on a political issue. For many people, abortion is sanctioned murder. It is wasteful and wrong to give $250,000 of taxpayer money to a business that makes $1.3 billion every year advocating for and performing this procedure.”

Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, the sponsor of the $250,000 blank check to Planned Parenthood, was annoyed that the Council was revisiting the vote, saying, “Now is not the time to roll back something that we literally passed two months ago.”

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APD chief: Suspect apprehended in Duke City slayings of Muslim men

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According to reports from the Albuquerque Police Department, a suspect in the murders of four Muslim men in Albuquerque has been apprehended.

According to a tweet from Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, “We tracked down the vehicle believed to be involved in a recent murder of a Muslim man in Albuquerque. The driver was detained and he is our primary suspect for the murders. We will update the media later this afternoon.

Medina did not immediately release the name of the suspect. The killings of Muslim men in Albuquerque have garnered national attention, with both politicians and advocacy groups decrying the violence.

The Department previously released a wanted poster showing a photograph of the suspect driving a gray Volkswagen Jetta:

ABQ Raw reported:

Downtown ABQ – A suspect in the Muslim killings around the metro is in police custody. We have learned from a source that was not authorized to speak to the media that a person of interest is currently being detained by the NMSP and APD officials downtown. The man is said to have been taken into custody last night by a joint NMSP/APD SWAT team in the ABQ metro area. Detectives have been working relentlessly for days to figure out who the killer is.

According to a City of Santa Rosa Police Dispatch supervisor, last night a pursuit was going through the town of Santa Rosa with New Mexico State Police in pursuit of the Volkswagen suspect vehicle from APD’s flyer. The local agencies helped shut down the highway exits to keep the pursuit out of town. At the 277 exit east bound the suspect vehicle was stopped by police. Officers took the suspect into custody by force using a bean bag non lethal weapon.

Emergency medical services were called to the scene and the suspect was checked out and cleared. He was then transported to Albuquerque for interviews with investigators.

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Thanks to violence in Dem-run ABQ, GOP candidate unsafe to door knock

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Over the past few months, four Muslim men have been killed in Albuquerque in what police are calling an apparent coordinated attack on Muslims in the Duke City.

The latest slaying was of Naeem Hussain, who was an employee of the City of Española, killed in an ambush in Albuquerque two Fridays ago.

KRQE reports, “Until the suspect or suspects are caught, the Muslim community is in fear.” The outlet reports that APD is saying, “they do believe these men were targeted because of their race and religion.”

Republican House District 24 candidate Khalid Emshadi, who is a member of the Islamic faith, ripped Democrats for causing the violence against his community. He called out not only the city leaders but also his far-left Democrat opponent, Rep. Liz Thomson.

On Twitter, Emshadi wrote, “I don’t feel safe in my own district because @lizthomsonnm and @MayorKeller won’t do a damn thing about crime.” He added, “We need to change this … I will stand and fight for our rights.”

Emshadi wrote in a subsequent tweet, “As much as [I] hate to do this, I will not be in public with the exception of work until this killer is caught. I cannot risk my safety with a serial killer killing Muslims on the loose. I need to do what’s necessary to protect my family.”

After Joe Biden made a statement appearing to condemn the anti-Muslim attacks in Albuquerque, Emshadi wrote, “These politicians are good for nothing but tweets. They’ve done nothing to prevent this from happening again.” He tagged Biden, Thomson, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Mayor Tim Keller in the post. 

Emshadi fled civil war in Libya to immigrate to the United States, seeking the American dream. He is running for the Legislature to “keep it alive for all New Mexicans.”

Thomson, his opponent, has fanned the flames of racism and bigotry through her social media posts. She has demeaned police officers, conservatives, parents, and many other groups. 

Thanks to violence in Dem-run ABQ, GOP candidate unsafe to door knock Read More »

ABQ taxpayers now forced to fund Planned Parenthood abortion business

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At the Albuquerque City Council’s Monday meeting, councilors voted 6-3 to add $250,000 to the City’s budget to fund the Planned Parenthood of New Mexico abortion business, according to a press release from the Council.

The measure was proposed by newly elected City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, a far-leftist who was endorsed by many pro-abortion politicians, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.

According to a release after the meeting, Fiebelkorn claimed pro-lifers are “extremists” who are “attacking” the right to kill one’s baby through abortion.

Ironically, Fiebelkorn claimed the $250,000 in taxpayer money is “vital.” She wrote, “I’m proud to have sponsored this amendment to provide vital support for Planned Parenthood.”

“Anti-women extremists have used aggression and intimidation towards Planned Parenthood clinics, staff, and patients resulting in increased costs, delays in treatment, and additional counseling and education needs,” Fiebelkorn claimed. “These funds support our local Planned Parenthood clinic to ensure that all Albuquerque women have access to family planning, abortion, and other reproductive health services.” 

The City’s final budget passed 7-2, with Councilors Dan Lewis and Renee Grout voting against it. 

The amendment to give money to Planned Parenthood passed with the support of two Republican city councilors: Brook Bassan of District 4 and Trudy Jones of District 8.

Following the news, the pro-life Society of St. Sebastian wrote, “Sadly, the City Council of Albuquerque, NM has given $250K to Planned Parenthood of New Mexico. This is a misuse of public funds since funds are meant to build the community, not destroy humanity.”

Paul Gessing of the Rio Grande Foundation commented about the vote on Twitter, “No matter your position on abortion, Albuquerque taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund Planned Parenthood. Sad (and certainly questionable from anti-donation perspective) that a majority on Council voted for this new subsidy.”

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Study finds Albuquerque near top of national list for homicides

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According to a new study by Wallethub, Albuquerque ranks near the top of the national for homicides, ranking 15th among the entire country.

“Alarmingly, homicide rates have risen by an average of 17% in 50 of the most populated U.S. cities between Q1 2020 and Q1 2022, and are still rising,” wrote the group.

Albuquerque ranks only below the leftist-run cities of Chicago, IL, Durham, NC, Washington, DC, Las Vegas, NV, Dallas, TX, Detroit, MI, Norfolk, VA, Louisville, KY, Milwaukee, WI, Memphis, TN, Baltimore, MD, Atlanta, GA, Cincinnati, OH, and the most homicide-ridden city of New Orleans, LA.

Albuquerque had worse homicide rates than cities such as Minneapolis, MN, which was the starting place of the violent George Floyd riots which resulted in around $500 million in damages to the heavily populated city. It also beat out large cities such as Philadelphia, PA, and Los Angeles, CA, which have been notorious for being crime-ridden.

The City of Albuquerque had 4.85 homicides per capita in 2022 so far, an increase of 1.04 since 2020.

In 2022, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham instructed the Legislature to focus on crime during the 30-day legislative session but unsuccessfully passed meaningful reforms to assist with the crime problem plaguing many localities in New Mexico with Albuquerque leading the pack.

The news spurred a statement from the New Mexico House Republicans, which wrote on Twitter, “ABQ ranks 15th highest in nation for homicides. We are expecting that @NMHouseDems will convene another “crime meeting” to discuss this continued violent crime that they refused to address during the 2022 legislative session.”

Lujan Grisham, who was accused and later settled at least $150,000 over groping claims by a former staffer, is up for a tough reelection campaign, with Republicans aiming to dethrone her in November. She has often supported anti-police radicals, even ones that bucked her pandemic mandates.

As we previously reported:

However, that’s a complete shift from her previous position, where she applauded and praised the “thousands of New Mexicans who peacefully protested in Albuquerque” in late May after the death of George Floyd sparked protests and riots nationwide. She went on to announce that “The state of New Mexico will stand ready to assist local governments in facilitating peaceful protests.”

She also acknowledged that these protests were a violation of her strict mass gatherings policy, but said they were fine she was going to “take a leap of faith” in protecting the protesters blatantly violating her rules.

She said, “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.”

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New ABQ City Council strips Keller’s emergency powers, repeals plastic bag ban

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The newly elected Albuquerque City Council, which now skews to the right, with moderate Democrat Louie Sanchez holding the keys to the kingdom, has made sweeping reforms of the city to the ire of far-left Democrat Mayor Tim Keller.

On Monday night, the City Council voted to nix the City’s plastic bag ban, which has already increased costs for grocery stores and consumers. It now heads to Keller’s desk for a likely veto.

“With spring winds kicking up, no one wants to see plastic bags hanging from trees and blowing down our streets again. The plastic bag ban is one important step to reducing litter, and Council should have waited for the results of the impact study they commissioned instead of taking this premature vote tonight,” said Keller in a statement.

The City Council also voted 5-4 to restrict the mayor’s command during an infectious disease outbreak that “presents a threat (to residents’) health or safety.” 

The change only allows Keller  “advisories and recommendations” regarding another crisis.

But the Mayor’s chief operating officer Lawrence Rael claimed, “There were some specific … situations that occurred in different areas of the city where we had to move quickly,” according to the Albuquerque Journal. 

Council also voted 8-1 to pass a measure that calls for renegotiating the DOJ settlement agreement. The proposal encourages a new agreement that sets an end date and caps spending.

After these reforms, Councilor Dan Lewis said, “This is clearly a major shift to a more common-sense, conservative approach to leading our city in the right direction.” He added, “Our conservative leadership and Republican strength on Council will mean great things for the future. Government must have checks and balances, accountability and be fiscally responsible. These are the values that conservatives on the Council are promoting, and, because of this, we are taking the right actions and making the right decisions that will mean better things for the great citizens of Albuquerque.”

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