Sandia Park man sentenced to 4 years for Oñate protest shooting

A man who opened fire last year at a Juan de Oñate protest in Española accepted a last-minute plea deal on the eve of trial Monday and was sentenced by a judge to four years in prison.

Ryan David Martinez, 24, pleaded no contest to aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the September 2023, shooting that injured Native American activist Jacob Johns of Spokane, Washington. The shooting was recorded on video and by Albuquerque Journal photographer Eddie Moore.

Martinez’s attorney, Marshall Ray, said prosecutors offered Martinez the plea agreement early Monday as the lawyers were entering the Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla.

Jury selection had been scheduled to start that morning in Martinez’s trial for attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Johns.

“We weren’t expecting to received the plea offer today,” Ray said in a phone interview Monday. “We were literally on the courthouse steps carrying our boxes to set up for trial and they approached us with the offer.”

First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, lead prosecutor who made the plea offer, called it “a surprise change of events” on the morning of jury selection.

Testimony was expected to begin Tuesday in Martinez’s trial, which had been scheduled through Oct. 18. In addition to attempted first-degree murder, Martinez was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for pointing his gun at another person that day. He also pleaded no contest to that charge.

“Ryan has always asserted that he acted in self-defense and that he never intended to be part of any violent encounter that day,” Ray said.

Martinez decided to enter a no-contest plea after discussing the offer with his attorneys.

A no-contest plea means the defendant agrees that prosecutors could successfully prove the charges but does not require an admission of guilt. A no-contest plea makes no difference in terms of sentencing.

District Judge Jason Lidyard accepted the plea and sentenced Martinez to four years in prison as called for in the plea deal. Lidyard sentenced Martinez as a serious violent offender, which requires Martinez to serve 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

“He hoped that by doing this no-contest that it could bring closure to everyone, and also so that he could move on with his life, and that’s what he plans to do now,” Ray said of Martinez.

Martinez has remained in the Rio Arriba County Jail since his arrest the day of the shooting, Ray said.

The plea agreement appears to resolve a dramatic series of events that unfolded at a rally in Española on Sept. 28, 2023.

The event was intended to celebrate a decision by Rio Ariba County officials to postpone plans to relocate a controversial statue of conquistador Juan de Oñate to a pedestal outside the County Annex building.

Witnesses told police that Martinez was one of several men walking around the rally wearing Make America Great Again hats, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Rio Arriba Magistrate Court.

As an activist was speaking near the pedestal, Martinez tried to approach the pedestal but was blocked by several people, witnesses told police.

Video recordings of the event showed that Martinez jumped over a short wall, pulled a handgun from his waistband, and fired a gunshot that struck Johns in the abdomen, it said. Martinez was taken into custody shortly after fleeing in a Tesla.

Carmack-Altwies said that she conferred with victims prior to offering Martinez the plea agreement.

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 protestors,” Carmack-Altwies said in a statement.

“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,” she said.

Rio Arriba Sheriff Billy Merrifield called the plea deal “a positive step toward putting this tragedy behind us, and I hope that the Rio Arriba community can work toward forgiveness and peace moving forward.”