GOP official, former El Pasoan ousted over anti-Trump piata Santa Fe party

A New Mexico Hispanic Republican Party official has been removed from his post after hosting an anti-Donald Trump event that included a necktie-wearing blonde piata.

Former Santa Fe County GOP treasurer Ignacio Padilla says he wasn’t acting as a party official when he organized the event last week to allow residents to hit a piata that bore Trump’s likeness.

Padilla, a former El Paso city representative, says he was exercising his right to free speech and believes Trump’s previous comments about Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans belittles Latinos.

The group’s executive committee voted Padilla out of his leadership role the same day of the event.

Chairwoman Jo Ann Eastham says elected party officials are required to maintain neutrality in primaries. She says Padilla was warned not to host the event.