Statement from Rep. John Block on the passing of Alamogordo Police Officer Ferguson

"Words cannot express our community's grief with the tragic loss of Alamogordo Police Officer Anthony Ferguson, who was murdered by a man who should never have been allowed to see the light of day, much less walk our community's streets.

Today is a bleak day in Alamogordo for every citizen to know that one of the best of us was needlessly killed at the hands of evil. My thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Ferguson's family, but my condolences do not stop there.

I will fight relentlessly to change New Mexico's laws to ensure violent thugs like the individual who took Officer Ferguson's life don't ever have the opportunity again to be sprung from jail pre-trial and allowed to cause senseless loss and destruction. We must close loopholes that allow violent lawbreakers, who do not follow laws, to be held behind bars pretrial and are not allowed to be put back into our communities to again cause tragedy and death.

Officer Ferguson was a great man — a hero — whose name will be remembered for time immemorial in Alamogordo. Our law enforcement officers are some of the best of us who get up every day to put on the badge to protect our community. They are the best we can get. I pray the murderer faces the maximum possible penalty.

It is our duty to fight for Officer Ferguson's legacy and honor his years of service to Alamogordo by making sure this never happens again."

Statement from Rep. Stefani Lord:

"In 2022, we presented HB 27 to keep our communities safe by keeping the worst of the worst behind bars while waiting for trial. It's incredibly sad knowing that the recent shooting of a Law Enforcement Officer may very well have been prevented had the Democrats passed this bill."