ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – We just learned more about the federal investigation throwing New Mexico into the latest national political spotlight. 

Minutes ago KOB 4 got an update on a fire this past weekend at the New Mexico Republican headquarters in Albuquerque. 

The state Republican Party is calling this arson, targeting the group. 

“This was not just an attack on our building, this was an attack on our values, our free speech, and the right of every New Mexican that wants to participate in the democratic process without fear,” said Amy Barela, chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico. 

The fire started early Sunday morning. Now, the FBI and ATF are leading the investigation. 

ATF officials say investigators recovered fire making materials at the headquarters, but they still haven’t determined the official cause. On Sunday, Barela was told it was a Molotov cocktail. 

Republican Party leaders spent much of Sunday cleaning up and boarding up the entrance. Although investigators haven’t said what caused the fire, GOP leaders firmly believe this was a targeted attack. 

State Republicans strongly denounce violence of any kind, including the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

Senate Minority Floor Leader Bill Sharer was asked about calling out Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez and her town halls. He says he urges people to turn the temperature down before someone gets hurt. Adding, the legislative session was a missed opportunity to address crime. 

“Just a week ago, the Republicans in the House and Senate urged the governor to call a special session to address our ongoing crime crisis, as the Legislature accomplished little or nothing during the regular session. The violence that brought us here today is another example of New Mexico’s ongoing crime crisis,” said Sharer. 

The political back and forth is not dying down with this fire. On Sunday, GOP leaders called out town halls hosted by Leger Fernandez, claiming they incite political violence.

The state Democratic Party called those claims deeply troubling, saying the Republican Party was trying to weaponize this vandalism against the congresswoman. 

Democratic leaders also called it shamefully hypocritical that prominent New Mexico Republicans are lying about those town halls after supporting the pardoning of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. 

We also heard from Leger Fernandez. She condemned any kind of political violence and said it’s a ludicrous leap to twist encouraging Democratic participation and town halls into insinuations of violence.

“It’s ludicrous to have Republicans, who themselves have participated in violent protests, to accuse me of inciting violence. Now we need to remember, at my town hall, we actually passed the sign of peace. We actually talked about using political participation as love in action,” said Leger Fernandez. 

Leger Fernandez was talking about state Rep. John Block from Otero County. She says the finger pointing is hypocritical because Block was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and that the state GOP did not condemn the violence that day.