Login

Gallup Sun

Thursday, Mar 28th

Last update12:57:39 AM GMT

You are here: News Public Safety Couy Griffin loses support of fellow commissioners

Couy Griffin loses support of fellow commissioners

E-mail Print PDF

Two Otero County commissioners demand his resignation

ALAMOGORDO — Gerald Matherly, Otero County Dist. 1 Commissioner and Vickie Marquardt, Otero County Dist. 3 Commissioner issued a statement Jan. 19 calling on the Dist. 2 Commissioner, Couy Griffin, to resign his post.

In their statement, they said Griffin had devoted himself to promoting his Cowboys for Trump organization from his first day as a commissioner, instead of serving the county that elected him.

The statement said a number of incidents led to investigations and lawsuits have been filed against the county over actions he took.

“He has been banished from the Mescalero Apache Reservation. He has made racist statements. He has repeatedly insulted other public officials. He has refused to comply with state campaign finance laws. His actions have consumed an enormous amount of time of county staff, who must deal with the drama he instigates at the expense of attending to public business,” the release said.

“Commissioner Griffin has called repeatedly for violence, stating ‘the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,’ which led to threats on county staff. He told a reporter the governors of Virginia and Michigan were traitors who should be hanged. He was one of the rioters who stormed the United States Capitol to stop the counting of the electoral vote, an action for which he has been criminally charged in federal court,” the Otero County Commissioners’ statement said.

Griffin was arrested in Wash. D. C. and charged Jan. 17 in U.S. District Court for breaching the U.S. Capitol grounds Jan. 6.

The FBI said the Jan. 9 charging documents alleged that Griffin was present at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and posted videos to his Facebook page indicating he intended to return to the nation’s capitol on Jan. 20 and “plant our flag” on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk.

It also said that Griffin had called for violence at the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony.

In a press release from the FBI,  it said that following the incident at the U.S. Capitol, Griffin posted a video to the Cowboys for Trump Facebook page in which he stated that he “climbed up on the top of the Capitol building and . . . had a first row seat.” In that same video, now removed, he 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.”

The FBI said that on Jan. 14,  Griffin spoke at an Otero County council meeting about his experience at the Capitol and his plans to return to Wash. D.C., to protest President-Elect Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. It was alleged that Griffin stated that he intended to bring his firearms with him.

The case is being prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janani Iyengar and Jason Feldman of the District of Columbia United States Attorney’s Office, and Trial Attorney George Kraehe of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Capitol Police Department.

Returning to the issues in New Mexico, Matherly and Marquardt assert there is an effort to recall Griffin from office. They believe a recall would take months to complete, as would a proposed lawsuit to remove him.

“The people of Otero County deserve an end to this circus now,” they said in their statement.

“We call upon Commissioner Griffin to resign his office immediately,” they said. “If he does not, we will support the recall effort and the removal proceedings of the Attorney General.”

The Gallup Sun reached out to Griffin for a comment. He did not respond by press time.

Staff Reports