Trial, jury selection set for 2023 Oñate statue shooting

The Rio Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, N.M. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)

The trial for the man recorded on video shooting a climate activist during a prayer ceremony and protest in Rio Arriba County is set to begin in October.

Ryan Martinez, carrying a concealed 9mm handgun, repeatedly tried to rush into an area where around 50 people were peacefully celebrating county officials’ decision to postpone resurrecting a statue of genocidal Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate.

Martinez shot Jacob Johns, a Hopi, Akimel O’odham activist from Washington, in the chest. Martinez then allegedly turned the gun on Malaya Peixinho. The gun jammed, and he fled the scene.

Martinez is being prosecuted for trying to murder Johns and assaulting Peixinho. State prosecutors have also added a hate crime and a firearm enhancement to the charges against him.

Jury selection and a trial are set to happen Oct. 7 in First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard’s courtroom in Tierra Amarilla.

The first leg of the trial is scheduled for Oct. 8 through Oct. 11, when state prosecutors are expected to make their case and call their witnesses to testify.

The second leg of the trial is scheduled for Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, when defense lawyers for Martinez will make their case and call their own witnesses.

Typically, both sides make opening arguments at the beginning of a trial, and closing arguments at the end.

Oñate statue shooter to remain in jail until trial