Attorney General Balderas Renews Call for Anti-Domestic Terrorism Reform and Funding for Investigation and Prosecution in Wake of White Supremacist Attack on Santa Fe Restaurant

For Immediate Release:
June 24, 2020
Contact: Matt Baca — (505) 270-7148

Santa Fe, NM—In response to this week’s white supremacist attack on the India Palace
restaurant in Santa Fe, Attorney General Hector Balderas today renewed his call for the
New Mexico Legislature to update New Mexico’s anti-domestic terrorism and hate crimes
statutes, as well as fund an anti-domestic terrorism unit in the Office of the Attorney
General.
“Domestic terrorism harms individual Americans and intimidates entire communities, and
we must immediately address this problem before it gets worse,” said Attorney General
Balderas. “I stand with the victims of this heinous attack, and will continue to fight to
protect New Mexican families from this violence.”
Last year, the Office of the Attorney General made several recommendations in response
to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s anti-domestic terrorism task force. These reforms
include updating both New Mexico’s anti-domestic terrorism and hate crimes statutes, as
well as creating a specialized investigative and prosecutorial unit in the Office of the
Attorney General to investigate and prosecute these crimes.