mr. penacause he had a felony record, which came from an amazing background -- he was part of a smash and grab ring. people who would take stolen vehicles, drive them from the front doors of -- to the front doors of big-box stores and steal things. he did almost seven years in prison for this, a serious criminal background. it was unsuccessful keep him off the ballot. the judge stated in part that i he is eligible to vote, he is eligible to run. he had done his five years of probation as well so he was not kept off the ballot, but he lost by more than 2000 votes. geoff: what have the four democrats targeted in this alleged conspiracy had to say about this? gene: not a lot so far. county commissioner o'malley probably had the most compelling story so far. you mention in the set of how mr. pena had gone to the front doors of three of the victims out of the four, and ms. o'malley had a difficult conversation with him at her front door after he alleged the election was stolen and he wasn't going t

political rhetoric that we are all being exposed to as election oicials and now we can see with mr. peÑazed pro-trump supporter who not only took threats that he made toward me psonally and otr election officials, but obviously, into action against former commissioner o'malley and her other friends and colleagues. this is the topic i've been talking a lot about but -- that because of the big lie and because of the disinformation that has been spread throu a certain portion of the population so extensively over the last two years, we have now seen individuals like mr. peÑa, frankly, somebody who already had a criminal record in the past two might have already been disposed to commit acts of violence, taking that rhetoric as truth and changing from a pattern of verbal or social media-based threats into actions. i am very grateful for law enforcement in our state, for the albuquerque police and the state fbi to have acted so quickly once this pattern of actual violence was established and to take quick action to obtain and arrest those who were involved. but what concerns me is that this ma

mr. pena's with finance laws. we've been asked to take a look at that and offer our association of the assessment on those issues. the idea here is to bring about the swiftest and frankly the most severe response that law enforcement can bring. my hope is that the u.s. attorney here and the department of justice will take a close look to see if there is the possibility of bringing federal charges, not only for the weapons that are used, but potentially for domestic terrorism. this, in my judgment, fits the definition of domestic terrorism. it should be treated as such. >> i want to read for you a statement in part that the attorney has said about this. of course, in large part, they're calling it merely accusations. even i both know, obviously, there's still the burden of proof that needs to be met. the statement is, at this point, the charges against mr. pena are merely accusations that not been tested by the full rigor of the traditional process. mr. pinion is presumed innocent and the charges against him. i kno

>> no, mr. pena make comments to our officers but built a strong case off evidence we found and feel comfortable at the place we are in the juncture of this investigation. >> any indication in the time that he has been in custody. has he shown any remorse? if he's not speaking he has not admitted to anything, i assume. >> no, we have no indication he's shown any remorse for any of his actions and the attack he carried out on our democracy. >> i want to talk about that in a second. is it yet clear what pena's intent was throughout this entire thing? was it intimidate these people or actually to hurt someone? >> you know, i think it's safe for us to say that it was changing what his intent was. you know, there's speculation that his intent was to intimidate these individuals, but as you follow the course of the investigation and you read statements, he was becoming more aggressive in his manner, and he was starting to ask them to do activities which clearly put lives in danger and he should have known

at this point the charges against mr. pena are merely accusations that have not yet been tested by the full rigor of the judicial process. he is presumed innocent of the charges against him. i know, attorney general, you obviously agree with the presumption of innocence, as do i. i wonder what has come out so far, in terms of conversations about masterminding, for some it might be odd for someone to know this was someone charged with a possession charge and able to run for office. on although he had a prior felony, he was adjudicated to still run for office? it was not a violation of your state law. is that right? >> that's correct. there was a challenge brought by someone during the last election cycle to see whether he was qualified to stand for public office. there was a district court judge in albuquerque who ruled that he was in fact qualified to remain on the ballot. i don't know if the legislature intends to reexamine that. this is someone with a long criminal history. as you noted at the top of your program, this is so

. >> reporter: you met mr. pena before. here at your home. he came to your front gate. like? >> i could see he was agitated. he was upset about losing the election. this was after the general election. this was november 10th. he just said, there's fraud. i believe there's fraud. i hadn't met him before. i said -- he said, i walked -- i knocked on all the doors. it doesn't reflect my vote. well, that doesn't really happen. he said, i want you to take these papers and i want you to respond to me. i took the papers. i didn't think much about it. >> reporter: did he claim there was evidence of fraud? >> it was a letter asking for a response. then it was several sheets -- it looked like downloaded information from a website about fraud. >> reporter: fast forward. when did you connect these bullet holes and think in your head, maybe that was solomon pena? >> soon after -- the first thing that happened was this individual also went to the other commissioner's home. that was -- >> reporter: you were not the only one? >> he came to her and basically the same thing. maybe there's

so mr. pena had been through that process. he also came to my front door after elections pretty aggressive. i didn't feel threatened necessarily at the time, but he was speaking erratic and aggressive. so he had come to our home, which is not common even though our addresses are publicized as elected official, but yeah, he came to my front door and that of others as well right after the election. >> did you contact the police? >> at that time, i didn't, but i know that county commissioner o'malley did. you know, i think i take pride that our elected officials are accessible here in new mexico and that you can reach them and talk to them and share your stories and lived experience and opinions on things that we will be debating and voting on so i didn't you know, i thought he was trying to engage in public civil discourse. >> how do you think you can stop this from happening again? >> i think we, you know, it's heartbreaking. i don't know, there isn't obviously throughout years, there's not an easy answer, but i think when one

. >> what i think mr. pena represents is a bigger issue that is in our country.h the insurrection that happened on january 6th, i mean, it was on his twitter feed exactly, you know, showing off that he was there. there's so much more threats that have been made to our secretary of state here in new mexico and other places across our country. you know, with governor whitmer, what was happening with her kidnapping, i think it's something that's much larger than just here in the state of new mexico. the rhetoric has to stop. you know, with what happened with us in my home, it's just disheartening. angry, very anger that i felt and on occasion, it's still riles me just think about how close this could have had a serious injury to emily. but ultimately, when i think what it comes down to is that this country needs to really take a look at itself internally. the insurrection that happened, all of the other problems that are arising, the violence that's there, we have to look at ourselves and figure out what road are we going to take? and what this incident has actually

when they were looking at the evidence, that it was mr. pena as your officers?>> pieces of the puzzle came together. the albuquerque police department, and their detectives, did a tremendous job, as well as the prosecutors in this office, who work, night and day. in this kind of attack elected officials, there were homes, obviously, with one common denominator of these folks are their elected officials. so, really, it is unacceptable to take your politics to such an extreme to use violence. we just won't stand for it. >> do you have a sense of how serious peÑa was about these attacks? whether, and there are some court filings to indicate this, to scare people, to injure or maine people? or even kill them? >> many of the facts are detailed in the criminal complaint and, has been filed as a public document. but, here is a guy, mr. pena, who paid $500 for other people to shoot at elected leader homes. he provided the addresses, in text messages, on which homes to shoot. he participated, himself, we know, in one of the shootings. based on the whole amount of evidenc

. >> i just want to read from the arrest warrant from mr. penafficials and elected officials and i think this is everyone's nightmare, certainly everyone or anyone with family or kids at home, if i could just read this to you. state senator linda lopez heard loud bangs, but dismissed them as fireworks at the time. she did not observe any immediate damage to her house. during this time, state senator linda lopez's 10-year-old daughter told her mother that she believed a spider woke her up by crawling on her face. linda went to sleep with her daughter in her bed. while in bed, linda's daughter asked why it felt like there was sand in the bed. a few hours later at daylight, linda lopez noticed there were holes in her house, apparently from gunfire. she called police at 7:42 in the morning. officers arrived and learned that linda and her daughter woke up at the time of the gunfire. they heard a loud number of bangs. as it turns out, sheetrock dust was blown onto linda's daughter's face and bed, resulting from firearm projectiles passing inside her be

here telling me today that there were no signs of any election fraud or irregularities here, that mr. pena lost his election fair and square, david. >> just a wild and alarming story. mola lenghi leading us off here. mola, thank you. >>> now to the major news coming in, the case making national headlines a massachusetts wife and mother of three missing since new year's day. tonight, her husband has now been chanrged with murder. here's abc's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: tonight, the husband of that massachusetts mother of three who vanished more than two weeks ago on new year's day, now charged with her murder. >> the continued investigation has allowed us to obtain an arrest warrant charging brian walshe with the murder of his wife. >> reporter: brian walshe already in police custody for allegedly misleading investigators after ana walshe went missing. he's pleaded not guilty. ana last seen by a relative in the early hours of january 1st, leaving her boston area home for a flight to washington, d.c., that investigators say she never boarded. authorities launching an exhaustive search aft

we'll do everything we can to bring all the individuals involved, including mr. pena, to justice.going to -- we're going to take care of this in a way to make sure we're doing everything we can. this is an attack on the entire community, right? this is an attack on democracy. we're going to do something about it. i'm going to actually prosecute this case personally. >> let's talk about some more of the evidence. you have the video. we were showing pictures. you saw him with guns and him in a car with other people. the albuquerque police department released photos they say they recovered from pena's phone. they show him posing with guns. driving in a car with another man. there's the gun photo. there's the one of him in the car with another man. the significance of these photos? >> well, it clearly puts some of the folks together. it clearly shows the kind of weaponry that was being used. it clearly shows a certain mentality here we're dealing with. it's not just that. for example, all the social media postings. i mean, it's clear this has been politically motivated in every way sh

we're going to do everything we can to bring all the individuals involved, including mr. penatake care of this in a way to make sure we're doing everything we can. this is an attack on the entire community, right? >> reporter: he'll be inside the courtroom, as it is a familiar setting for pena, as he is a convicted for -- >>> a man is accused of trying to kidnap a woman by pulling her through a drive-up window. >> take a look at the surveillance. as the barista hands the suspect the change, he's trying to use a zip tie. she fortunately was able to fight him off. he was taken into custody at his home yesterday. >> that really is terrifying. >>> a live stream captured announcers at a high school basketball game in oklahoma ducking for cover, and people running for their safety after gunfire broke. >> in the fieldhouse, tonight where -- [ gunfire ] -- we're going to a break. >> the game had just finished when the shots were fired. the school ace paren pal says it happened after there had been a fight, at least one man was injured, taken to the hospital. there is no word yet on hi

. >> mr. pena orchestrated and made phone calls and hired people to shoot at people's houses. >> reporter: pena is a convicted felon that spent years behind bars for grand larceny knee. one of the people he hired may have been in the same pricson a the same time. it quickly escalated says albuquerque's police chief. text messages point to a greater threat. the warrant says solomon wanted the shootings to be more aggressive, to ensureacquisitio >> people are pissed off about this. i'm pissed off about it. this goes to the heart of what we're all about as a democracy. you can't shoot guns at someone's house and just to terrorize them because they're an elected official and you have crazy election denying motivation behind it. that is unacceptable. >> reporter: the district attorney tells me he is quote so pissed about this one he's going to prosecute this himself. we did reach out to pena's attorney. she did not call us back. he is being held without bond. jake? >> kyung lah, thank you. with me to di

. >> barbara, legally, how serious could these charges be against mr. pena? >> very serious. firing shots into someone's home is a level of recklessness that risks death, whether they intended to hit anybody and kill them or simply to intimidate someone or send a message or punish someone for not rewarding them the way they wanted to be. even if he believed he was acting in the interest of justice, because he was robbed of a rightful election, this is not the way that people are supposed to redress their wrongs. we have court systems. we have other things. taking the law into one's own hands is a very serious crime. it would be important to prosecute a case like this to send a message that this type of political violence has no place in a democracy. evidence matters. facts matter. so we will see if they are able to support this with a case that is successful at trial. if so, it's incredibly important to deter other people who might get similar ideas. >> briefly, ben, isn't this the logical extension of the trump election denialism? he agreed with that position publically. >>

we're going to do everything we can to bring all the individuals involved including mr. penae. >> this is exactly what law enforcement has been warning about, there are people out there receiving these election lies, believing them, internalizing them and can prove to be dangerous. we reached out to an attorney for pena for comment. we are waiting for the court hearing to begin any minute now. we'll wait and see whether this judge determines this individual remains a threat to the public whether he is issued no bail but again, very serious charges here and a very serious case. the area there, obviously, new mexico troubled by elected leaders apparently target in a politically motivated attack. >> josh campbell with the reporting. thank you. let's discuss with cnn senior law enforcement analyst andrew mccabe. good to see you. we discussed how election denying is dangerous for our democracy. we saw on january 6th and several times since how it's dangerous to life and limb. when you see this suspect, solomon pena targeting these lawmakers, going to their homes, i mean, what does

think the likelihood that the authorities are going to pitch the coconspirators to testify against mr. pena in exchange for a more lenient sentence, and i think getting a conviction is not dwoing to be very difficult. the fact that he pulled the trigger in at least one of the instances, i think, is probably going to enhance his sentence even further. >> we know that political violence, political anger can turn to threats, can turn to violence we saw most egregiously on january 6th. we saw it with paul pelosi. we saw it with the georgia election worker and somebody shows up at the door of her mom and testified at the january 6th committee. you know so many of those folks. do you worry that house member, senate member, somebody who works on capitol hill could be a target? >> they have legitimate worries. anthony gonzales that stands out in ohio was one of the republicans that voted to um peach trump. that's not a place you want to be in this country. going into the midterms, a lot of us breathed a sigh of relief that there wasn't that kind of volence that we worried was going to happen. parti

. >> mr. pena you will be afforded a hearing. >> reporter: that next hearing will happen later this morning where prosecutors are expected to begin unraveling his journey from republican state candidate and election denier to accused master mind behind four politically mote evaluated drive-by shootings targeting the homes of democrats like debbie o'malley. >> this happened when my husband and i were asleep. my grand kids could have been spending the night. >> reporter: police say pena was fuelled by election lies and drew from his criminal past. he spend years in prison for charges of burglary and larceny. saying jail time changed him. >> i had nothing more than a desire to improve my lot in life. >> reporter: that would lead to politics as a follower of donald trump. video shows him at multiple rallies. and like trump when pena lost his 2022 run for office by landslide he invoked the former president saying i never conceded. >> can i speak with debbie on mali. >> reporter: ring video shows him tra

i don't know what mr. pena wanted to discuss with ms. o'malley.t would probably be a question to ask ms. o'malley. >> yes, and we did have her on. i'm glad you is ed that. we did have deborah o'malley on. she's the commissioner and he was running for the state legislature. he then showed up at her real house and we have video of this that i can play for you, and he asked her to come outside. she came out. they had a discussion. over her, he's waving out there, and they had a discussion over her gate, and she described him to us as being agitated and aggressive. he was angry that he lost the election, basically, and, you know, i guess skeptical that he lost the election? he's denied losing the election. so what has he told you about all of that? >> i can't comment on anything that i discuss with my client. again, my goal is just to remind everyone that my client is entitled to a fair trial, and the presumption of innocence exists, and i don't know anything else about the discussions that he may have had with ms. o'malley. >> roberta yurcic, we appr

. >> mr. penaill be afforded a hearing on the state's motion for pretrial detention. >> that next hearing for solomon pena will happen later this morning, where prosecutors are expected to begin unraveling his journey from republican state candidate and election denier to accused mastermind behind four politically motivated drive-by shootings, targeting the homes of democrats, like debbie o'malley. this happened when my husband and i were asleep and my grandkids could have been spending the night. >> albuquerque police say pena was fueled by election lies and drew from his criminal past. pena spent years in prison for charges, including burglary and lancer, telling reporters last summer that jail time had changed him. >> i had nothing more than a desire to improve my lot in life. >> reporter: that path would lead to republican politics as a follower of donald trump. video shows pena at multiple trump rallies, from washington, d.c. to phoenix, arizona. and like trump, when pena lost his 2022 run for

we're going to do everything we can to bring all the individuals involved, including mr. pena to justice. >> reporter: this hearing is about to get under way. we expect it to be brief, but one key thing we're watching is whether the judge in this case determines if the suspect is an ongoing threat to the public, if he is remanded without bond. >> thank you. >> thank you, josh campbell. >>> joining us is one of the officials targeted by pena. this is debbie o'malley. ch commissioner, thank you so much for being here. can you describe what happened that night? it was december 11th. it was the middle of the night. you and your husband were asleep in your home, and what happened? >> well, we heard loud banging. we both sat up at the same time. that's pretty unusual. when we both got up, that banging continued, and we realized it was gunfire. we did, you know, get up, look at ring cameras in our gate, and we thought, well, somebody's on the property. so we were shocked, my husband was to see a day later, the bulletle bullet holes in our wall. >> we see that on the screen. is it tru

mr. pena was arrested today, again in a s.w.a.t. raid. he was arrested in connection with a string of four shootings into the homes and offices of democratic politicians, including one case in which three bullets were fired into the bedroom of the 10-year-old daughter of one democratic state rep. the girl was asleep in her bedroom when those three shots were fired into her bedroom on january 3rd. tonight we received new statements from one of the democratic politicians who has had shots fired into his home in recent weeks. he's the incoming new mexico house of representatives speaker. his name is javier martinez and he tells us i deeply appreciate our albuquerque police department for their hard work throughout the investigation into these shootings targeting elected officials. i'm grateful a suspect is in custody. i trust our justice system will hold those responsible accountable. we've seen far too much political violence lately and all of these events are powerful reminders that stirring up fear, heightening tensions and stirring hatre

. >> mr. penal be at the podium behind you. >> reporter: he gave a thumbs up to the judge in response to a question. the court moved the case will move to the district court. the 2020 election denier and former republican candidate for the new mexico state house is accused of conspiring with and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of four other democratic state leaders. >> there's a lot of evidence there. we have the electronic communications. we have a significant amount of evidence, and we're confident in our case moving forward. >> reporter: pena provided, quote, firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting. additionally, the arrest warrant included images from the phone of one of the coconspirators, photos that were spent to pena. those photos showed one of the suspected shooters who when arrested had had a gun that police say was used in one of the shootings. pena's intent went beyond political intimidation. >> he was becoming more aggressive in his m

. >> mr. pena, he oshlth stated.nd basically hired people to shoot at people's houses. >> he is a convicted felon who spent years behind bars for grand larceny. one of the men he hired say police may have been in the same prison at the same time. what began as a political grind quickly escalated says the police chief. text messages from pena to the other suspects all hired guns point to a greater threat. the warrant says solomon wanted the shootings to be more aggressive to ensure better target acquisition. >> people are pissed off about this. i'm pissed off about this. this goes to the heart of what a democracy is. you can't shoot guns at someone's house to terrorize them because they're an elected official and you have some crazy election denying motivation behind it. that is unacceptable. >> reporter: the district attorney says he is, quote, so pissed about this one he plans to prosecute this one personally himself. we did hear back from pena's attorney who says these charges right now are accusations as she plans

well, prior to running for political office mr. pena spent seven years in prison for burglary. in a lawsuit by his democratic opponent, a judge ultimately allowing pena to run for office. george? >> okay, mola, thanks. >>> now to an emotional school board meeting in virginia. the first public meeting in that district since a 6-year-old shot his first grade teacher nearly two weeks ago. andrew dymburt has the story. >> reporter: fury and frustration on full display at the school board meeting in newport news, virginia. >> i send my kids to school and find myself praying to god they will return home safely. >> reporter: the public meeting marks the first with school leaders since police say a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher this month. >> don't want to have a family dinner where i talk about where my kids will hide in their school. >> reporter: more than 100 people signed up to speak. desiree yvette said her daughter rushed out of the classroom after witnessing the shooting. >> she's 6. she's terrified because the person that was advocating for her got hurt. >> reporter: dozens of

this mr. pena, and look at george santos. sitting there as a member, as a sitting member of congress on committees, a man whose entire campaign and life that he shared with the world has been built on lies, and it's okay. it now happens. it's just part of common -- and that's exactly how it begins. this is what we have been talking about, about trump's effect and how the fascist tendencies pervade our politics and others take it and run with it. that is what is happening. i wouldn't turn away from it, those who can make a difference, and again, i know justice takes a long time, but i really hope it happens for our country. by the way, there's a new reporting in the "washington post" that revealed former president trump mistook his sexual assault accuser, author and advice columnist e. jean carol for his ex-wife marla maples when shown a photograph from the 1990s at a deposition. that could undermine one of the common defenses he has used to deny that he attacked and raped e. jean carol. she is suin

record on solomon peÑa -- >> solomon peÑa wearing a red jumpsuit, shackled at his wrists and ankles, appeared in front of a judge for the first time since his arrest. >> mrg to be calling you at that podium behind. and the court ruled the case will move to district court. >> the 2020 election denier and former republican candidate for the new mexico state house is accused of conspiring with and paying for other men to shoot at the homes of four elected democratic state leaders. >> there is a lot of evidence there. we have the electronic communications. we have a significant amount of evidence. we are very confident in our case moving forward. according to the arrest warrant affidavit, peÑa provided, quote, firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting. additionally, the arrest warrant included images from the phone of one of the coconspirators, photos that were sent to. those images show peÑa with one of the four suspected shooters who, when arrested, had a gun that police say was used in one of the shootings. albuquerque's police chief tells cnn that peÑa's intent went beyond political intimidation. >> he had become mor

one of those democratic lawmakers, senator linda lopez, says pena's actions represent a bigger issue in the country. >> what i think mr. pinion represents is a bigger issue that's in our country. with the insurrection that happened on january six, it was on his twitter tv, exactly showing off that he was there, there is so much more threats that have been made to our secretary of state here in new mexico and other places across the country. governor whitmer, what happened with her camping, i think it's something that's much larger than here in the state of mexico. but the rhetoric has to stop. >> it has to stop, but what happens if it does not stop? starting us off tonight, charles blow, a columnist for the new york times and msnbc political analyst, jill wine-banks, who served as a assistant watergate prosecutor and msnbc legal analysts, kurt bardella, a democratic strategist, contributor for the los angeles times, the former spokesperson of the house gop oversight committee. welcome to all three of you. it's good to have you here. charles, i'll start with you. i quoted you in the introduction here. i think we all co

pena. he lost that election by more than 3600 votes to the incumbent democrat who hold that seat. mr. pinion was an unusual candidate. there was a local right up on his candidacy in the set of a new mexican. it noted that solomon pinion, despite being the republican nominee for the state legislative seat, he was a convicted felon many times over. he had been convicted, in fact, of 19 different felonies. including burglary, larceny, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and receiving stolen property. as a result of those multiple felony convictions, he spent almost seven years in prison. but then the republican party picked him to be their nominee for the state legislature. again, he made it to the general election as the republican nominee. he lost the election to the democratic incumbent, but now police allege his arrest, that he hired people to shoot at these democratic officials homes and offices. in a press conference just tonight, albuquerque officials say that solomon peÑa pulled the trigger himself at least one of the shootings. but they also made clear that they have evi