Man arrested after commotion in downtown S.F.

Musician recently posted about mental illness on social media

Santa Fe police arrested a man they say created a ruckus Saturday night at a downtown spa and restaurant by yelling racial and sexual slurs and knocking over business signs on West San Francisco Street.

One of the signs fell over with a loud bang, leading one person to call the police and report a shot was fired, said Santa Fe Police Department Capt. Matthew Champlin.

“The incident drew a large crowd of 40 or 50 people with cellphones recording it as it was going down,” he said.

Police arrested Patrick Mureithi and charged him with disorderly conduct after the incident, which took place shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday at the Santa Fe Oxygen and Healing Bar.

Mureithi, originally from Africa, is a folk and rap singer and documentary filmmaker who, according to some online posts he created, recently moved to Santa Fe from Albuquerque.

“I’m jobless, I’m homeless and I’m free,” he said in a self-made video he posted on one of his social media accounts a few days ago.

Many of his videos show a seemingly happy man playing music and expressing love. But at least one post details his frustration dealing with mental health issues. One recent video shows him advertising a concert at the Santa Fe Oxygen and Healing Bar at 8 p.m. Saturday.

A representative of the bar said Mureithi was not scheduled to perform there Saturday night.

According to online records, Mureithi, who had lived in Missouri before coming to New Mexico, does not have a criminal record in New Mexico. Online county jail inmate records indicate he was released around 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

In 2015 he released an album of 10 of his original songs called This I Believe. A reviewer for

417 Magazine said it is “a delightful blend of Delta blues, reggae and folk, there is something wonderfully simple and honest about this album’s stripped sound.”