Deputy Threatens Officer, KILLS Rabbit!

Outrage explodes over a New Mexico deputy’s cruelty, captured in chilling videos that reveal a disturbing pattern of misconduct and supervisory failure.

At a Glance

• Grant County Deputy Alejandro Gomez allegedly threw a baby rabbit to its death, an act caught on video.
• Supervisors, including a sergeant and a corporal, witnessed the incident but did not intervene.
• Gomez now faces charges of aggravated assault (for a related incident) and extreme animal cruelty.
• The video footage of the incident has gone viral, sparking public fury and calls for reform.

An Unconscionable Act of Cruelty

In a shocking display of cruelty captured on video, Deputy Alejandro Gomez of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office fatally injured a baby rabbit during an overnight patrol on August 16, 2024. The incident unfolded near Hachita, New Mexico, after Gomez allegedly threatened fellow Deputy Marcus Salas with a Taser to force him to hand over the small animal. Gomez then forcefully threw the defenseless rabbit over a patrol vehicle, causing it to die on impact. The entire act was witnessed by two supervisors, Sergeant Frank Gomez and Corporal Javier “Harvey” Torres, who stood by and did nothing.

This is Alejandro Gomez, a sheriff’s deputy in Grant County, New Mexico.

He’s holding a baby rabbit—a few moments after he threatened a colleague with a taser, and a few moments before killing the animal by throwing it against a patrol vehicle. His supervisors stood by and… pic.twitter.com/uTKDkEWbhG

— reason (@reason) July 16, 2025

A Pattern of Intimidation and Failed Oversight

The careless cruelty of the rabbit incident appears to be part of a larger, deeply troubling pattern of behavior. According to the criminal complaint, this was not the first time Deputy Gomez had allegedly threatened his colleague. In a prior incident, he reportedly pointed his service weapon at Deputy Salas’s back under the flimsy guise of “testing his duty-mounted light.” That these acts of intimidation occurred without consequence points to a systemic failure of oversight within the department. The blatant inaction of Sergeant Gomez and Corporal Torres during the rabbit incident, a direct contravention of their duties, suggests a culture of complicity and a dangerous abdication of responsibility.

Public Fury and a Hollow Defense

Following the release of body camera and cellphone footage of the incident, public outrage has been swift and severe. Residents and animal welfare advocates have rightfully condemned not only Gomez’s individual actions but also the systemic failure of his supervisors to police their own. While Gomez remains on paid administrative leave pending a court outcome, the lack of immediate discipline for the supervising officers has fueled public anger. Gomez’s defense attorney, Gary Mitchell, has attempted to dismiss the chaos as merely an “inner-office situation” that was blown out of proportion, a claim that insults the intelligence of a public that witnessed the wanton disregard for life on video. This is not an internal HR matter; it is a case of criminal cruelty and a profound breach of public trust.