September 21, 2023

In case you missed it, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) issued a very narrow emergency public health order restricting the use of guns in Albuquerque for 30 days. The order was in response to a spate of gun deaths, including an 11-year-old shot and killed outside a minor league baseball stadium. After an outcry and legal challenges from gun lovers, a judge issued a temporary restraining order and Lujan Grisham modified her order.

But the far-right crowd thinks the effort to save lives should be punished with death. They responded with violent threats against Lujan Grisham, her family and staff. Source New Mexico overheard such threats at an Albuquerque rally attended by several Republican officials and found them in the comments section of a website owned by Rep. John Block (R-Alamagordo), an unindicted Jan. 6 insurrectionist.

Instead of demonstrating the kind of restraint one would hope from Twitter/X owner and world’s richest man Elon Musk, we got disinformation and lighter fluid.

From Source New Mexico:

Elon Musk wrote on the social media platform he owns that the governor’s actions are “next-level illegal,” and asked, “How soon can this person be removed from office?”

Several hours later, far-right conspiracy theorist Tim Pool posted a video of Lujan Grisham and wrote “Police should arrest her immediately.” Musk responded “Yes.”

After Musk’s posts, a prominent conspiracy theorist on the website tagged Musk in a threat to doxx Lujan Grisham, her family, and a spokesperson if any New Mexico State Police officer enforced the order.

The account has been suspended for making violent threats in the past and was boosted by a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona.

The New Mexico judge issued a restraining order, not an arrest warrant, for a reason. But Musk, who lives in Texas, seems to think he has the right to stick his nose into New Mexico affairs, amplify hostilities, and ignore the laws while baselessly calling for the arrest of the state's top official.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon