Suit filed against alleged Española gunman, parents

A Native American activist shot and injured last year at a protest over the installation of a Juan de Oñate statue in Española has filed a lawsuit against the alleged gunman and his parents.

Jacob Johns of Spokane, Washington, alleges that a hollow-point 9mm gunshot “destroyed his spleen” and damaged other organs after Ryan Martinez allegedly opened fire at the protest.

The 1st Judicial District Court lawsuit also alleges that Martinez’s parents were negligent and share responsibility for their son’s actions on Sept. 28, 2023. Martinez lived in his parents’ home, the suit said.

“Bryan Anthony Martinez and Adelita Martinez were aware that (Martinez) was obsessed with guns and firearms, and that he routinely engaged in dangerous and exceptionally disturbing behavior while living with them,” the suit contends.

Voice messages left for Bryan and Adelita Martinez were not immediately returned Tuesday. It was not clear from court records if the couple have an attorney.

Ryan David Martinez, 23, is charged with attempted first-degree murder in Johns’ shooting and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly pointing his gun at another person that day. He remains in custody at the Rio Arriba County jail while awaiting trial on those charges.

A message left for Martinez’s attorney, Nicole Moss, was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Johns’ attorney, John Day, contends that FBI agents contacted Martinez’s parents and made them aware of threatening comments Martinez posted on a Federal Reserve Bank Twitter account in 2018.

“If you are a parent and you are allowing your child to engage in dangerous activity, there’s a price you are going to pay,” Day said Tuesday in a phone interview.

A neighbor of Martinez’s home in Sandia Park became alarmed after observing Martinez “walking around at night wearing body armor and carrying an AR-15-style assault rifle and carrying a handgun,” the suit contends.

New Mexico State Police who searched the Martinez home also found a 3D printer and printed parts that allow a semi-automatic rifle to be illegally converted to a fully automatic weapon, the suit said.

Martinez’s parents “were on notice from the FBI and from a concerned neighbor that (Ryan Martinez) was engaged in threatening activity that involved firearms and threats to public safety,” the suit alleges.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and asks a judge to award Johns’ “punitive or exemplary damages” and attorney fees and costs.

Johns was injured at a rally in Española celebrating a decision by Rio Ariba County officials to postpone plans to relocate a controversial statue of conquistador Juan de Onate 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 allegedly tried to approach the pedestal but was blocked by several people, the affidavit said.

Martinez allegedly 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.