A New Mexico judge ordered that Couy Griffin, a commissioner in Otero County and the leader of "Cowboys for Trump," be removed from office for violating the 14th Amendment by participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which the judge described as an insurrection. District Court Judge Francis Mathew further ruled that Griffin was permanently disqualified from holding public office.
This is the first time any court has officially ruled the Jan. 6 attack to have been an insurrection under the law, and also marks the first time in 150 years that any U.S. court has disqualified a public official under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group that represented New Mexico residents who filed the lawsuit seeking to disqualify Griffin.
