Possible Lawsuit in Works After Incident Between Resident, City Manager’s Girlfriend
An attorney for an Española resident sent a notice of a possible lawsuit to the City of Española for the actions of its city manager, mayor and police department at a fundraising concert on March 1.
Police lapel camera footage posted to YouTube of the aftermath of the incident shows City Manager Eric Lujan, Mayor John Ramon Vigil and community member Andrew Herrera. Lujan called the police on Herrera after he allegedly harassed his girlfriend.
Herrera’s attorney Ramón Soto sent the notice via email to Vigil and City Clerk Carla Martinez on Friday. It alleges that actions of city officials violated Herrera’s First Amendment rights.
“This office may bring claims against each of you regarding First Amendment Retaliation Mr. Andrew Herrera endured on or around March 1st, 2025 at Española City Hall,” the notice said.
The community event meant to raise funds to celebrate Española’s centennial anniversary has since been overshadowed. As of press time, the police lapel camera footage posted to YouTube has more than 64,000 views and more than 1,100 comments.
The footage shows Lujan speaking with officers outside the venue, alleging that Herrera harassed his girlfriend, who is not identified. Officers then go inside the auditorium, get Herrera from his seat and speak to him in the lobby.
As the officers were walking inside, one of them says “We’re removing someone for the city manager.”
In a telephone interview, Herrera said Lujan’s decision to call the police to have him removed was an abuse of power and he was targeted because of his complaints about the city.
“I am not afraid to speak up to them because when the community doesn’t speak up, nothing gets done,” Herrera said.
He said this adverse relationship began last year, when he began to contact city officials over his concerns regarding the lack of patrols at the Veteran’s Memorial Wall and Valdez Park.
Despite multiple calls and complaints from many people, the city does not clean up the drug paraphernalia, human feces and other garbage that is regularly left there, Herrera said.
At the beginning of the concert, Herrera said he attempted to greet Lujan when he arrived to the concert, but he walked away from him. Later that evening, during the intermission, Lujan’s girlfriend told him “to keep on walking big man” and “what the (expletive) are you looking at?”
Herrera denies having ever had an interaction with her prior to that evening.
“All I did was call her a ho,” Herrera said in the footage. “And I am being honest with you.”
A security guard also approached the officers and said they received no complaints about the incident and were unaware of the situation.
“You got sideswiped with this,” the security officer said. “We didn’t hear … anybody fighting or arguing or nothing.”
While Herrera is speaking to officers inside the building, an officer outside the venue said “This is all (expletive) Española movidas,” according to the footage.
Lujan declined to comment about the contents of the video and his connection to Herrera, citing an ongoing criminal investigation and police report.
In a telephone interview, Vigil said he could not comment about Lujan’s choice to call the police or any other aspects of the incident.
“It is a personnel matter, so I can’t discuss it further than that,” he said.
Herrera said that ultimately, he was not removed from the property and stayed at the event.
The footage was posted on the James Freeman YouTube Channel, which regularly posts lapel camera footage and videos of people’s interactions with police and government officials. According to the account profile, its goal is to show the public that those who “enforce the rules do not obey those rules themselves, or hold other members of the ruling class accountable to those rules.”
History
Vigil said the incident in the lapel footage is just one of many interactions he has had with Herrera.
Screenshots provided by Vigil show Herrera called his personal cellphone five times in one day on the weekend leading up to the event.
In a voicemail shared with the SUN, Herrera insults Vigil, using expletives and makes derogatory comments about his appearance.
The SUN also obtained 41 pages of text messages and photos sent to Lujan by Herrera. The messages were sent between Aug. 3, 2024 and March 11.
The messages contain expletives and personal insults about Lujan’s behavior and appearance.
Vigil believes Herrera has “serious mental problems,” based on their previous interactions, the number of phone calls he receives from him and the contents of the voicemails.
“Mr. Herrera has very questionable behavior,” Vigil said. “Questionable and erratic behavior.”
In response, Herrera said he does regularly call Vigil and Lujan to discuss city issues, and he will continue to reach out to them until they take his complaints, and those by others in the community, seriously.
“Yes, I have epilepsy, that is mental health, but to me, it seems like they are making me out to be mentally unstable,” Herrera said.
Police involvement
As of Friday, Herrera said he had not received any notice of a criminal complaint or a police report, nor had he spoken to an officer about the incident.