Man arrested on charges of witness intimidation
Armed man showed up at door of witness in demonstration shooting
The day after a witness testified against the man charged with shooting and seriously injuring a protester during a demonstration earlier this summer, investigators say an apparent member of a far-right militia movement showed up, armed, on his doorstep.
That man, 34-year-old Daniel Carr, was arrested by special agents with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office Friday afternoon. He is charged with intimidation of a witness.
His attorney, Adam Oakey, said he could not comment on the specifics of the case but he believes “this is a political issue turned criminal” and he and his client are going to “fight this to the very end.”
The incident occurred Aug. 14, the day after multiple witnesses testified in a virtual hearing against Steven Ray Baca in which a judge decided he should
stand trial.
Baca is charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon in the shooting of Scott Williams during a demonstration for the removal of the Juan de Oñate statue from the Albuquerque Museum grounds on June 15. He is also charged with two misdemeanor counts of battery, one of those for throwing another protester to the ground. Baca has claimed self-defense.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, the witness and his girlfriend — who are referred to as “John Doe” and “Jane Doe” — were at home with her elementary school aged child watching the remainder of the virtual preliminary hearing on their computer when they heard a knock on the door.
Jane Doe said she answered the door to find a stranger who said his name was “Daniel” and asked repeatedly for her boyfriend by name. She said he held his hands “away from his side several inches” and his hands were trembling.
“She told him John Doe was not home, although he was, because she felt he did not have good intentions,” an agent wrote in the complaint. “He turned to walk away, and she saw he had a black handgun in a holster on his hip.”
She started recording on her phone and the video has been turned over to the District Attorney’s Office.
It shows her asking the man “Why are you here?” according to the complaint.
“He replies ‘because you guys are destroying our city. You guys are Antifa, correct?’” the investigator wrote in the complaint. “Jane laughs at his statement and the male replies ‘alright, now we know where you live.’”
The video shows her walking after him, asking what his name is and he replies “3%” — an apparent reference to the Three Percenters, a far-right movement that traditionally opposed the federal government, and more recently has been in opposition to left-wing protests and lockdown orders for COVID-19, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“Jane explained to me that she was terrified, and her and John Doe and the minor child immediately left the residence, fearful the same man or others would be back soon,” the complaint states. “Her belief was his presence and words were in direct relation to the testimony John Doe gave in court the day before.”
An investigator reviewed local media accounts of the hearing and noticed the Albuquerque Journal’s article included names and testimony of witnesses, including the one allegedly visited by Carr. A Google search found the witness’ address.
The District Attorney’s Office publicized the alleged witness tampering incident on Monday, showing stills of the video, and tips came in identifying a Daniel Carr who lived on the West Side.
Carr appears to have a history of anger against protesters.
One night in late June, police were called to the intersection of Montaño and Golden NW because a man was waving a sign that said “All Lives Matter” and “(expletive) BLM” and was pointing a gun at drivers who honked at him.
According to a police report, when officers arrived they found Carr and he said he was waving his “All Lives Matter” sign and people were honking and threatening him so he went home to get his gun.
He was open-carrying a black handgun at the time and denied pointing it at anyone, according to an incident report from the Albuquerque Police Department.
While officers were speaking with Carr, the caller pulled up and said his home was behind where Carr had been standing.
“(The caller) was concerned for his family’s safety and wanted this incident to be documented,” a police report states. “(The caller) wanted us to not allow
Daniel to be at that location since his house is in the area and we explained to him that it is a public sidewalk and he has every right to be there.”
Officers said they were unable to find any victims who could confirm Carr pointed a gun at them and there were no charges to pursue.
This week, agents scoped out Carr’s home and spotted a man that appeared to be him and a truck that matched the description Jane Doe had given following the encounter.
Later, in a photo lineup, Jane Doe identified Carr as the one who had come to her house, according to the complaint.
On Friday, agents paid another visit to Carr’s home, this time to serve a search warrant. His wife was home alone.
“She stated she knew we were there because her husband, Daniel, had gone to someone’s residence to talk about them being part of a shooting incident,” the complaint states. “She called him on speaker phone and told him the police were there and wanted to talk to him.”
Carr said he had an attorney and both called back to say they would be home shortly.
“Daniel arrived approximately 30 minutes before his attorney did, and upon immediate contact stated he didn’t do anything wrong, but did admit to being the person who went to John and Jane’s home,” the complaint states.
Agents said they found a black handgun in his vehicle and several others inside the home.