New Mexico is not having it with an elected official who participated in the January 6 riot on the capital.
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, and co-founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” was removed from his office by State District Judge Francis Mathew on September 6, 2022. He was removed from his post and disqualified from holding public office for life under the Fourteenth Amendment, which has not been used to remove an elected official since the removal of Victor L. Berger in 1919. Berger was an Austrian-American politician who was convicted of violating the Espionage Act for publicizing his anti-interventionist views and as a result lost his seat in the House of Representatives.
Last March a federal judge convicted Griffin of trespassing during the riot but was acquitted of a count of disorderly conduct. This past June he served 14 days of incarceration but received credit for 20 days he already had served after his initial arrest.
Amidst cries of unjust targeting by Democrats and judge Mathew, let’s not forget that Griffin was arrested and charged for planning to drive to Washington with a rifle and a revolver, and vowed to return on January 20 (during Biden’s inauguration) to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s desk. Griffin said he had planned to return to Washington on January 20 hoping that a change in leadership could be accomplished “without a single shot being fired.” However, he added that there was “no option that’s off the table for the sake of freedom.”
During a meeting with FBI investigators, Griffin said he planned to travel to Washington for Biden’s inauguration armed with guns. He is quoted as stating: “I am going to leave either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a .357 Henry big boy rifle . . . that I got in the trunk of my car, and I’ve got a .357 single action revolver… that I will have underneath the front seat on my right side. And I will embrace my Second Amendment, I will keep my right to bear arms.”
Prior to Griffin removing the video on Facebook, he also stated: “You want to say that that was a mob? You want to say that was violence?” “No sir. No Ma’am. No we could have a 2nd Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. You know, and if we do, then it’s gonna be a sad day because there’s gonna be blood running out of that building. But at the end of the day, you mark my word, we will plant our flag on the desk of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Donald J. Trump if it boils down to it.”
“Blood running out of that building.” These are not words of a peaceful protestor, nor those of a patriot.
After taking down the video, Griffin back-pedaled and told FBI investigators that he went to Washington to take part in a peaceful protest, and said that he was “caught up” in the crowd. He insisted he did not enter the building and had remained on the Capitol steps. He also asserted that the real villains during the riot were Antifa provocateurs, and during the Otero county hearing, stated that the judiciary had been weaponized against him.
When a reporter questioned him about his statement of “blood running out” of the Capitol and that future rallies could lead to more fatalities, Griffin answered: “I am more afraid of losing my freedom than I am anything.”
The talk about a stolen election and the loss of freedom rings hollow and distorted, and reveals the sordid underbelly of those groups and individuals who distrust the democratic process, and will resort to violence in order to advance their right-wing agenda for America.
I am proud of district court judge Mathew for taking this step toward domestic terrorists who fancy themselves as true American patriots but are in fact hell-bent upon violence and the dissolution of our democracy.