Mwanasiasa wa chama cha Republican nchini Marekani, Solomon Pena, ambaye alishindwa kwenye uchaguzi wa jimbo la New Mexico mwaka 2022, amehukumiwa kifungo cha miaka 80 jela kwa kuandaa mashambulizi ya risasi kwenye nyumba za maofisa wa chama cha Democratic. Mashambulizi hayo yalifanyika katika jiji la Albuquerque, wiki chache baada ya kushindwa kugombea kiti cha Bunge la Jimbo
Waendesha mashtaka walisema Pena aliamini kwenye nadharia za njama kwamba alipokonywa ushindi kupitia wizi wa kura. Mwaka huu, alipatikana na hatia ya makosa 13 ya jinai kuhusiana na mashambulizi hayo yaliyolenga nyumba za maofisa wanne, akiwemo Spika wa sasa wa Bunge la Jimbo, Ingawa hakuna mtu aliyejeruhiwa
Baada ya kushindwa, Pena alijaribu kushinikiza wajumbe wa Bodi ya Wakurugenzi wa Kaunti ya Bernalillo wasithibitishe matokeo ya uchaguzi. Walipokataa, alikodi watu wawili, Jose Trujillo na Demetrio Trujillo, kutekeleza mashambulizi ya risasi kati ya Desemba 2022 na Januari 2023. Wanaume hao walikiri makosa yao mwaka 2024. Kesi hii imewekwa katika muktadha wa ongezeko la vurugu za kisiasa nchini Marekani
Mwendesha mashtaka wa Marekani katika jimbo hilo, Ryan Ellison, alisisitiza kuwa “Vurugu na vitisho havina nafasi kwenye chaguzi zetu.” Hata hivyo, wakili wa Pena, Nicholas Hart, amesema mteja wake atakata rufaa dhidi ya hukumu hiyo. Tukio hili limeunganishwa na kuongezeka kwa madai ya wizi wa kura yasiyo na ushahidi, yaliyopata nguvu baada ya Rais wa zamani Donald Trump kukataa matokeo ya uchaguzi wa urais wa mwaka 2020
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A failed Republican candidate in New Mexico was jailed for 80 years on Wednesday for contracting gunmen to carry out drive-by shootings on the homes of Democratic officials after his 2022 election defeat
Solomon Pena orchestrated the attacks in Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, weeks after losing his bid for a state house seat. He was driven by conspiracy theories he had been a victim of election fraud, federal prosecutors said
Pena was convicted of 13 felony charges earlier this year for attacks on four officials in December 2022 and January 2023, including the current state house speaker
No one was hurt in the shootings, which followed other politically motivated violence such as the hammer attack on the husband of U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi.
"Violence and intimidation have no place in our elections," U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison said in a statement following the sentencing
Pena's lawyer Nicholas Hart said his client would appeal the conviction.
Two men who said they were hired by Pena for the attacks pleaded guilty in 2024
After he failed to be elected, Pena pressured members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners not to certify the results. When they refused, Pena recruited Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out the shootings, prosecutors said
False and unfounded claims of election fraud exploded after President Donald Trump refused to accept defeat in the 2020 U.S. presidential election
Source: Reuters
Waendesha mashtaka walisema Pena aliamini kwenye nadharia za njama kwamba alipokonywa ushindi kupitia wizi wa kura. Mwaka huu, alipatikana na hatia ya makosa 13 ya jinai kuhusiana na mashambulizi hayo yaliyolenga nyumba za maofisa wanne, akiwemo Spika wa sasa wa Bunge la Jimbo, Ingawa hakuna mtu aliyejeruhiwa
Baada ya kushindwa, Pena alijaribu kushinikiza wajumbe wa Bodi ya Wakurugenzi wa Kaunti ya Bernalillo wasithibitishe matokeo ya uchaguzi. Walipokataa, alikodi watu wawili, Jose Trujillo na Demetrio Trujillo, kutekeleza mashambulizi ya risasi kati ya Desemba 2022 na Januari 2023. Wanaume hao walikiri makosa yao mwaka 2024. Kesi hii imewekwa katika muktadha wa ongezeko la vurugu za kisiasa nchini Marekani
Mwendesha mashtaka wa Marekani katika jimbo hilo, Ryan Ellison, alisisitiza kuwa “Vurugu na vitisho havina nafasi kwenye chaguzi zetu.” Hata hivyo, wakili wa Pena, Nicholas Hart, amesema mteja wake atakata rufaa dhidi ya hukumu hiyo. Tukio hili limeunganishwa na kuongezeka kwa madai ya wizi wa kura yasiyo na ushahidi, yaliyopata nguvu baada ya Rais wa zamani Donald Trump kukataa matokeo ya uchaguzi wa urais wa mwaka 2020
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A failed Republican candidate in New Mexico was jailed for 80 years on Wednesday for contracting gunmen to carry out drive-by shootings on the homes of Democratic officials after his 2022 election defeat
Solomon Pena orchestrated the attacks in Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, weeks after losing his bid for a state house seat. He was driven by conspiracy theories he had been a victim of election fraud, federal prosecutors said
Pena was convicted of 13 felony charges earlier this year for attacks on four officials in December 2022 and January 2023, including the current state house speaker
No one was hurt in the shootings, which followed other politically motivated violence such as the hammer attack on the husband of U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi.
"Violence and intimidation have no place in our elections," U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison said in a statement following the sentencing
Pena's lawyer Nicholas Hart said his client would appeal the conviction.
Two men who said they were hired by Pena for the attacks pleaded guilty in 2024
After he failed to be elected, Pena pressured members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners not to certify the results. When they refused, Pena recruited Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out the shootings, prosecutors said
False and unfounded claims of election fraud exploded after President Donald Trump refused to accept defeat in the 2020 U.S. presidential election
Source: Reuters
