The FBI is investigating what was a possible terrorist attack against a prominent state-wide environmental and political organization, the Santa Fe, N.M.-based Conservation Voters of New Mexico. The group is affiliated with the national League of Conservation Voters (LCV).
Last week (Oct. 26), CVNM received what Gene Karpinski, LCV president, described in an email to The Quad Report, as “a letter containing an unidentified chemical substance, along with a number of vile and anti-Semitic threats directed at CVNM, New Mexico State Representative Nathan Small, and the Democratic Party of New Mexico….The FBI have confirmed that the sample contained ingredients of a ‘potential toxin used in terrorist attacks’ but that it was not in an active form. No CVNM staff were harmed in the incident.”
Long-time New Mexico political observer and activist Geoff Webb noted in an email that Nathan Small is married to former Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, who won election to the U.S. House in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District in 2018 and lost Republican Yvette Herrell, whom she beat in 2018, in 2020. Torres Small is currently under secretary of agriculture for rural development in the Biden administration.
LCV’s Karpinski wrote, “While we’re grateful that no one was harmed, we cannot overlook the fact that someone did attempt to cause serious harm to our colleagues and partners. We appreciate the vocal support and solidarity CVNM has already received from New Mexico Democratic leaders, and we join CVNM in calling for all political parties and leaders in New Mexico to condemn this attack.
“Our democracy depends on people who choose to step up and engage in public service, despite the vitriol they too often receive.”
Karpinski added, “Sadly, this is just the latest instance of political violence that is threatening our democracy. The January 6th attack on the Capitol, and recent threats against political leaders including Nancy Pelosi, remind us that too many people have been emboldened to use violence and extremism to intimidate their perceived enemies and continue shameful legacies of oppression.”