First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard’s courtroom in Tierra Amarilla was prepared for trial but empty on Monday afternoon. The trial was canceled on Monday morning, during the first hours of jury selection. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source New Mexico)
The attempted murder trial of a man who shot a Native activist at a protest over a controversial monument in northern New Mexico was canceled at the 11th hour.
In what local prosecutors are framing as “a surprise change of events,” Ryan Martinez on Monday morning pleaded no contest to aggravated battery against Jacob Johns and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Malaya Peixinho.
In general, pleading no contest means agreeing to the facts laid out by prosecutors, but not admitting guilt.
Martinez was recorded on video shooting Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O’odham climate activist and artist from Washington state. Johns was there to celebrate county officials’ decision not to reinstall a statue depicting genocidal Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate.
First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said Martinez “came into our community, armed with a firearm, to create and stir political discord, which resulted in a violent attack on Mr. Johns and other protesters.”
“This type of violence in our Rio Arriba community will not be tolerated, and I commend the resolve and commitment of Mr. Johns and other victims involved in this senseless tragedy,” Carmack-Altwies said, according to a news release from her office.
Marshall Ray, one of Martinez’s defense attorneys, said he “firmly asserts he acted in self defense and never intended to be part of a violent encounter that day.”
“He hopes that entering into this no contest plea agreement brings closure to everyone involved and he looks forward to moving on with his life,” Ray said in an emailed statement.
The agreement includes a nine-and-a-half year sentence, including four years in state prison.
The plea deal means a much shorter sentence than was possible for Martinez, who was facing charges of attempted murder, assault, and reckless driving, along with hate crime and firearm enhancements.
It remains unclear why exactly prosecutors offered Martinez the deal. One possibility is they would not have been able to draw a jury who would find him guilty. The plea deal was struck just a couple hours after jury selection began in the case.
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Victims react
Martinez was the third Trump supporter in New Mexico to be charged with a politically-motivated shooting in as many years, following a 2020 shooting at an Oñate statue in Albuquerque (charges related to the shooting were dropped in that case) and a series of shootings at Democratic officials’ homes, allegedly carried out by failed Republican candidate Solomon Peña.
Mariel Nanasi is the civil attorney for the two alleged victims in the case, Jacob Johns and Malaya Peixinho. All three said what Martinez did on Sept. 28, 2023 was a hate crime.
“This was a racially motivated hate crime by a MAGA proud gun toting crazed man who came to a peaceful prayer ceremony with a fully loaded live gun,” Nanasi said. “Martinez put everyone at risk. Jacob and Malaya paid the price with their lives and the entire community has been traumatized.”
Nanasi on Monday shared a copy of the email Martinez sent to the Rio Arriba County manager two days before the shooting, when he learned county officials had postponed the statue ceremony, he wrote, “Has the ceremony really been cancelled (sic) tomorrow morning??My statue won’t return?”
No police officers were present during the shooting, according to a Source New Mexico reporter who witnessed it happen.
“Despite the proximity of the police and their knowledge aforethought about Ryan Martinez’ mistaken belief that it was his statue and that Oñate should be resurrected and put on display at the Rio Arriba County administrative buildings, and, critically that they had ‘intelligence’ that violence was likely, the Espanola police and Rio Arriba County Sheriffs were nowhere to be found,” Nanasi said. “They failed to protect us.”
In a statement of his own, Johns said Martinez was “motivated by hatred,” the plea deal is “a continuation of colonial violence,” and the broader criminal process is “reflective of the systemic white supremacy that Indigenous peoples face.”
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the hate crime enhancement, according to the agreement.
“Just imagine if I shot a person at a MAGA rally or a Christian prayer service, I’d be put away for life,” Johns said. “And all we were doing was having a peaceful sunrise ceremony — we went there to pray and our prayers were answered because the Oñate statue still does not stand.”
In her own statement, Peixinho said the plea deal is lighter than what she believes is appropriate, “however it shows our desire for conflict resolution.”
“This horrifying attempted murder will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Peixinho said. “It traumatized me and my community — some people were afraid to even go grocery shopping or leave the house.”
Since Martinez entered a plea for a felony, he can no longer ship, receive, possess or own any firearms or ammunition.
“It is important to understand that in this time of out-of-control gun violence Ryan Martinez will never be permitted to brandish or own any weapons again,” Peixinho said.
Johns said he was angry but wanted to express that “Indigenous prayers and lifeways work.”
“Pueblo people will always stand together and maintain a continuity of resistance to white supremacy and the destruction of the Earth,” he said.