Column By Mike Bibb
Apparently, we don’t have to look several thousand miles to The Swamp in Washington, D.C., to get our daily fix of discombobulated politics, when similar antics are going on about a hundred miles away in Silver City, New Mexico.
Silver City Police Department is experiencing personnel difficulties within their ranks; Grant County Sheriff’s Office is having similar problems; the Magistrate Court is acting in a peculiar manner; and the Department of Public Safety has been slowly walking a requested report on an incident involving a rabbit, the county sheriff, and his deputies.
Down the road in Las Cruces, another Magistrate Judge and his wife were arrested a couple of months ago at their home by federal authorities for cavorting with Venezuelan gang members.
Is everyone in Southern New Mexico eating too much Hatch chili — or not enough?
Whatever it is, obviously, the wheels of various police departments and local courts have become a little wobbly.
I previously reported some of the unusual behaviors of these agencies in New Mexico (see The Gila Herald, “What is going on with New Mexico law enforcement?” — May 9, 2025), and the perplexing manner they’ve carried out their duties.
Now, comes word things haven’t seemed to improve much — if at all.
According to the Grant County Beat online newspaper article “Defender of rabbit fired by Sheriff [Raul] Villanueva,” Aug. 17, 2025, the Sheriff fired several deputies and also terminated the deputy who tried to save the baby rabbit because he “failed to act” — even when a fellow officer was pointing his taser at him and demanded he hand over the little creature.
That officer then hurled the tiny animal against his patrol vehicle with sufficient force to fatally injure it.
Two questions immediately come to mind: What was the officer who was trying to rescue the little rabbit supposed to do when confronted by another officer pointing his weapon at him and ordering him to surrender the rabbit? And, what is the mental stability of the officer who pulled his weapon and then killed the animal?
The Beat newspaper previously submitted an incident report request with the New Mexico Department of Public Safety on Feb. 21, 2025.
On March 11, 2025, the NMDPS indicated the report wouldn’t be available until March 26.
Then, delayed until April 28.
Then, delayed again until May 28. — The Beat, May 11, 2025.
Suspicious behavior from a state agency entrusted to maintain the safety and confidence of the public.
Presently, we’ve learned Magistrate Judge Matt Runnels, who decided the case, is the former chair of the Democratic Party of Grant County. He gathered 67% of the vote over his Democrat opponent in the 2023 primary election and was unopposed in the general election. Sheriff Villanueva, a Democrat, received 51% of the vote in the 2023 general election over two other candidates.
As a result, Runnels and Villanueva are probably well acquainted with each other.
Reportedly, when asked in a pre-election candidate questionnaire if he had any training or experience in law, Runnels replied, “I have life experience and am not tainted by any pre-disposed prejudices from any specific background.”
Which I would take to mean he hasn’t had any training or experience in law.
The fact that both the Sheriff and Magistrate are Democrats isn’t unusual. New Mexico is predominantly a Blue Democratic state. Has been for decades. A sheriff and judge being members of the same political party isn’t cause for suspicion. Not an ideal situation, but not illegal.
The accused officer in the case was charged with four counts of Aggravated Assault upon a Peace Officer with a Deadly Weapon and one count of Extreme Cruelty to Animals.
However, the judge declared the accused deputy involved in the case would have “all charges were dismissed except for animal cruelty. That surprised people.” — The Beat, Aug. 17, 2025.
Imagine the judge’s decision did surprise people. Guess the judge couldn’t dismiss the fact that there was actually a dead baby rabbit involved whose violent demise was witnessed and videoed on body cameras by several other deputies.
Not sure what the judge’s reasoning was to dismiss all assault charges, other than the fact that the accused officer didn’t actually shoot another officer, even though he had drawn his weapon and pointed it at the other deputy in a threatening manner.
If the threatened officer hadn’t given up the rabbit, would the accused deputy have really shot him?
To me, the fact that the accused officer eventually killed the little rabbit — after he said he wouldn’t — is an indication he could very well have been in the frame of mind to shoot the other officer if he had not complied with his commands.
Word of the convoluted mess stretched clear across the country to New York City, where the incident was detailed by the New York Post on July 19, 2025. In all probability, other news media have also reported the bizarre account.
The quirkiness of the affair would suggest that further investigation into the matter should be conducted by an impartial government agency. Just the ingredients of the case — a sheriff, several deputies, unholstered duty weapons, a dead rabbit, threats and distrust between officers, delays in the Sheriff’s Department publicly announcing the problems, DPS runarounds, a newspaper’s struggle with obtaining the facts and a judge’s decision to dismiss most of the charges should be sufficient cause to raise interest.
I mean, something looks to be out of sync. I don’t believe this is the normal way of doing things within a department that is obligated to enforce the law, even among its own employees.
Unfortunately, this probably isn’t the end of the story. As more reports gradually dribble out, there’s a very good chance we’ll no longer be surprised at what we hear. After all, if a dead baby rabbit is at the center of this saga, and the resulting actions of the sheriff’s office seem to have been restrained in reporting and correcting the situation, what follows next may only be more excuses and presumed justifications.
I’d bet the current sheriff’s involvement in the matter will be the focus of public interest in next year’s election. The present sheriff served two prior terms, then sat out one election cycle as required by state law, and was reelected in 2022 for the 2023-26 term.
A 4th term, if tried, remains an uncertainty. Even in Blue New Mexico, one would expect some voter blowback. Not everyone has gone woke.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
