New Mexico’s governor has so far ignored calls from her constituents and the state’s most prominent civil rights organization to withdraw a once-obscure executive order that has received renewed interest three months into the War on Gaza.
In 2022, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order to direct all state agencies under her control to adopt and use the “Working Definition of Antisemitism” written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
This week the governor’s office declined to answer questions about Lujan Grisham’s response to a letter asking her to rescind the order, and about how many times the state has enforced it.
“We are clear: discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism, has no place in New Mexico,” said Maddy Hayden, a spokesperson for the governor. “The governor is also a staunch believer in free speech, and we have seen no indication that this order signed in 2022 is being misused in any way.”
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In interviews with Source New Mexico, New Mexicans criticized the order as part of a broader attempt to conflate Judaism with Zionism, in order to expand the traditional definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel and quash expression in support of Palestinian self-determination.
Dr. Lori Rudolph is a professor of counseling at New Mexico Highlands University studying continuous traumatic stress in the West Bank, and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.
She said it’s vitally important for Jewish people to counter the claim that criticism of Israel is the same as antisemitism. Lujan Grisham’s executive order is unfortunate, she said, because it undermines the credibility of claims of real antisemitism.
“We have a moral obligation to speak out against genocide, especially in light of our own history of genocide and the historical trauma that we carry,” Rudolph said. “It’s unconscionable to watch Israel committing the same atrocities that were committed against Jews in Europe, for example.”
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After Lujan Grisham signed the order two years ago, Rudolph joined civil rights attorney and author Jeff Haas, along with others affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace, to gather signatures for a petition calling the governor to withdraw it.
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For a couple of months that year, Haas said, the group tried to meet with the governor, but it did not happen.
Then in September 2023, a pro-Israel advocacy group in Santa Fe tried to get Lujan Grisham to enforce the order against Palestinian poet and journalist Mohammed El-Kurd to try to prevent him from speaking at the University of New Mexico.
In response, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico urged Lujan Grisham to rescind the order, arguing in a letter on Nov. 14 that it violates the state’s constitution.
ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson and attorney Kristin Greer Love told the governor her order “threatens freedom of speech,” which “applies to and protects everyone in our state — not just those with whom we agree.”
“We are deeply concerned that it could be used as the basis for silencing protected speech, and indeed have begun to see signs in New Mexico that our fears could be realized,” they wrote, citing the effort to silence El-Kurd. “We urge you to rescind this dangerous and unnecessary order.”
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They wrote Lujan Grisham’s administration has legal tools to protect Jewish people in New Mexico and combat antisemitic harassment and discrimination, “But make no mistake: adopting the IHRA’s ‘working definition of antisemitism’ through an executive order is not among them.”
Maria Archuleta, a spokesperson for ACLU-NM, confirmed Wednesday the governor has not responded to the letter.
The ‘working definition’
The IHRA “Working Definition of Antisemitism” has been criticized by Israeli Jewish academics and lawyers defending the movement for Palestinian rights in the United States. The executive order adopts the definition by linking to a website but does not spell it out word-for-word.
Lujan Grisham’s order states the IHRA definition “has been an essential tool used to determine contemporary manifestations of antisemitism, and includes useful examples of discriminatory anti-Israel acts that can cross the line into antisemitism.”
Most notably, the IHRA definition asserts that “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” is an example of “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination.”
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This is immensely dangerous, because it means you can’t call Israel racist, says Dr. Fatima Van Hattum, a former member of the central committee of Lujan Grisham’s Council on Racial Justice and a member of the Muslim community in New Mexico.
“It means that any true historical recounting and examination of the Nakba — the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine — would be considered antisemitic,” Van Hattum said. “It means that any critique over half a century of Israeli occupation would be considered antisemitic. It means that any future solutions — like potentially one democratic, secular state in critique of an exclusively Jewish ethno-religious state — would also be considered antisemitic.”
In their letter to the governor, ACLU-NM wrote the order’s adopted definition is “unconstitutionally vague, classifying certain (unspecified) criticisms of Israel as antisemitic, leaving New Mexicans with uncertainty about whether their speech or expression could violate the law.”
The IHRA definition “does not allow for nuanced political debate and expression that are critical for a functioning democracy: it lumps in criticism of the government of Israel — and support for Palestinians’ rights — with the scourge of true antisemitism,” ACLU-NM wrote.
In doing so, the definition “impermissibly threatens to chill speech,” they wrote.
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“Protected speech and expression include non-violent protest, activism, criticism of Israel and support (for) Palestinians’ rights,” the ACLU wrote. “One can criticize the government of Israel and support Palestinians rights without being antisemitic, just as one can criticize the Palestinian Authority or the governments of other Muslim-majority countries without being anti-Muslim.”
In her statement expressing the governor’s stance, Hayden added that “New Mexico stands alongside the Biden Administration and the majority of other states in adopting this stance against antisemitism.”
Van Hattum, who has a Ph.D in educational thought and sociocultural studies, said the order comes amid a push by the right wing in the U.S. for deeply restrictive policies preventing the proper teaching of slavery, Black history or colonization.
By endorsing the IHRA definition, both Lujan Grisham and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are limiting people’s “ability to factually recount the history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” Van Hattum said.
“It’s not only a First Amendment violation, but it’s very dangerous to our democracy in the same way these right-wing attacks on curricular materials and books are dangerous in the long term,” she said. “It means our country is becoming more and more fascist. That is not a small thing.”
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From a perspective of racial justice in the U.S., Van Hattum said, “Israel, as a settler colony like the U.S., is built on violent dispossession.” She compared racism in a settler colony like the U.S. or Australia to an individual living with a chronic disease.
“If there is ever a future that isn’t just blatant occupation and genocide, and a political outcome where people can actually live together, this will still be the case,” Van Hattum said. “What this definition does is it denies us the ability to even engage in that discussion intellectually.”
The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a grandmother fatally shot by a police officer last year, according to The Associated Press and local media.
Felipe Hernandez, then working for the Las Cruces Police Department, fatally shot Teresa Gomez, 45, in her car in October 2023. Her family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, the police chief, and three members of the police force.
The settlement is the city’s largest agreement in a civil lawsuit, according to CNN affiliate KFOX14. The parties reached a settlement on November 7, according to a court filing. CNN has reached out to the city and an attorney representing the Gomez family for comment.
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“This settlement should be understood as a statement of the City’s profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez and of the City’s condolences to her family,” the city of Las Cruces said in a news release sent Friday, according to AP.
Hernandez, who was fired from the police department months after the shooting, faces a second-degree murder charge, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin June 2. CNN has reached out to Hernandez’s attorney for comment.
Gomez was sitting in her car when Hernandez accused her and her passenger of trespassing, footage from the officer’s body-worn camera shows. He then shouted commands laced with the F-word at her and threatened to arrest her, “tase” her and make her life “a living hell” if she didn’t comply with his plan to investigate, the footage shows.
After Hernandez approached Gomez on a bicycle as she sat in her car, Gomez told him she had been visiting someone at the address and said she was looking for her misplaced keys, the body-camera footage shows. Gomez and the officer discussed why she and the passenger were parked outside a public housing complex – a place Hernandez said the passenger was not supposed to be. Gomez said multiple times she was unaware of any visitor rules, the video shows.
After Hernandez repeatedly asked Gomez to leave her car, Gomez stood outside it for a while, answering some of the officer’s questions, the video shows. Her passenger was never asked to get out or questioned in a similar way.
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The grandmother eventually found her car keys and, with the officer’s permission, sat back in the driver’s seat, according to the video and the lawsuit.
Half a minute later, she engaged the engine and, with her car door still open, shifted into reverse, pulled back, then put the car into drive, the video shows.
Hernandez shouted “stop!” three times, then fired his gun several times, the video shows.
The lawsuit alleges Gomez presented “no threat of any physical injury to Hernandez or anyone else” and Hernandez “left her to bleed out in her car as he turned away from her gasping body to retrieve his bicycle and flashlight.”
The suit claims Las Cruces “has adopted a de facto policy of indifference to the escalation of encounters between its officers and the public”and it “it allows officers to use deadly force in situations in which there is no threat of great bodily harm or death posed by the subject receiving deadly force.”
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The complaint also alleges city employees disproportionately use excessive force against people of color – like Gomez, who was Hispanic.
Gomez’s sister, Angela Lozano-Gutierrez, previously told CNN the video of her mother’s encounter with Hernandez was “shocking.”
“We may never get the apology we need,” Lozano-Gutierrez said. “We’re just trying to cling to each other, and we just keep telling ourselves: She would want us to continue to live to be happy.”
Texas Southern Tigers (0-4) at New Mexico Lobos (4-1)
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sunday, 8 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lobos -23.5; over/under is 155.5
BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern takes on New Mexico after Duane Posey scored 26 points in Texas Southern’s 97-82 loss to the Samford Bulldogs.
The Lobos are 3-0 on their home court. New Mexico is fourth in the MWC with 40.8 points per game in the paint led by Nelly Junior Joseph averaging 12.0.
Texas Southern finished 16-17 overall with a 6-11 record on the road a season ago. The Tigers allowed opponents to score 71.1 points per game and shot 42.5% from the field last season.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
There’s only one thing UNLV forward Jalen Hill didn’t believe his teammate Dedan Thomas Jr. could accomplish on the basketball floor, and it’s going to cost him a steak dinner.
Thomas found himself ahead of the pack late in the first half and flashed a big smile as he started to measure his dribbles and steps toward the rim.
“I got the ball and thought I saw someone chasing me to block it, so I was like, ‘Yeah, I have to go dunk this,’” Thomas said.
The first slam of his collegiate career highlighted the Rebels’ 72-65 win over New Mexico State on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
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A preseason discussion between Hill and Thomas resulted in the promise of the meal should Thomas throw one down in a game this season. Hill may not be the only one on the hook.
“He never shows that he can dunk at practice,” Hill laughed. “It’s exciting, because for a guy that doesn’t really dunk to get his first one, a lot of people owe him stuff.”
While the above-the-rim moment was a departure from the norm, it was business as usual otherwise for the sophomore point guard, who was once again the catalyst for much of what UNLV (4-1) was able to accomplish in a game in which it struggled from the field for long stretches.
He finished with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Rebels held off the Aggies (3-2) in a physical affair that featured 50 fouls and a combined 33.3 percent shooting effort from the field.
Thomas got to the free-throw line 19 times and made 13 of the attempts.
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“We knew they were a physical team, so I tried to use that aggression against them,” he said. “Just drawing fouls and trying to get to the line as much as possible.”
UNLV led by as many as nine points midway through the second half only to allow the Aggies to hang around. Julian Rishwain hit a pair of 3-pointers to help keep them at bay for a while, but they eventually grabbed a brief lead that proved to be short-lived.
New Mexico State used a late 6-0 run to take a 63-62 lead with 4:08 remaining, but UNLV got the ball inside to Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry for a dunk to recapture the lead for good.
Thomas got to the rim and was fouled in a one-point game with 2:22 remaining and made both free throws. The Aggies wouldn’t score again, as UNLV tightened up defensively down the stretch, forcing New Mexico State to miss its final six shots and eight of their last nine.
UNLV led 37-34 at halftime despite a miserable shooting performance from the field.
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After a three-point play by Thomas in the opening minute, the Rebels missed their next eight shots and 13 of their next 15 as they went more than seven minutes without a basket from the floor.
They were able to stay in the game largely because of their defense and ability to get to the free-throw line. UNLV held the Aggies to 31.3 percent shooting in the first half and got into the bonus with more than 14 minutes remaining, going 20-for-23 from the line before the break.
“It just shows we’re really gutsy,” Hill said. “We didn’t shoot well, but we got to the free-throw line and got rebounds when we needed them.”
Eight New Mexico State players had two fouls in the first 20 minutes.
The Rebels did get hot toward the end of a first half that saw Thomas record 15 points and three assists while UNLV shot just 29.2 percent from the field.
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None were more memorable than the ones scored by Thomas on the breakaway with 3:06 remaining in the first half.
Coach Kevin Kruger had more faith than Hill.
“I didn’t know if he was going to dunk or not, but I do know he can,” Kruger laughed. “I have seen it before.”
After the Thomas dunk brought the entire bench to its feet in celebration, he threw a lob to Cherry on a break that he finished with a highlight-reel jam and a foul. The three-point play completed a 7-0 run that put the Rebels up 37-30.
“A dunk isn’t always worth only two points,” Kruger said. “Sometimes it gets your team going, and I thought it did for us.”
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Cherry finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, and Hill had 16 points and nine boards.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
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