Katrina Griego Called St. Therese Too Woke. Then Came the Gun.

For most of 2026, Katrina Griego ran a one-woman review of the letterboard outside St. Therese of the Infant Jesus on Fourth Street in Albuquerque's North Valley. She photographed the signs, posted them to Facebook, and complained that a Catholic parish had no business doing politics.

On July 22, the letterboard reviewed her back. By lunchtime, according to police, her boyfriend was standing on the parish grounds holding a gun.

Griego is not an official, a candidate or a paid activist. She is a North Valley resident whose Facebook page became the starting point of the ugliest episode in Albuquerque's fight over the Albuquerque Islamic Center's planned mosque. Here is who she is, according to the public record and her own posts.

Griego's feud with the parish predates the mosque. In January, according to Piñon Post, she posted photos of St. Therese signs reading "No one is illegal in God's realm" and "We are Renee Good," and wrote that she did not think such messages belonged at a Catholic church. On May 30 she posted another, calling Father Vincent Paul Chávez a "woke" priest who kept putting up anti-ICE messages.

The parish has also posted "No Kings in USA, Only Jesus," a nod to the anti-Trump protest slogan. Father Chávez does not hide his politics, and Griego does not hide that she objects to them.

On July 1, the Bernalillo County Planning Commission rejected an appeal and let the mosque, school and parking area move forward near Second Street and Alameda. The hearing had already been postponed once, after the Islamic Center received threats.

Father Chávez used his one minute of public comment to back the project, saying he hoped the fight was not about racism, which he called a grave sin against God's love. Griego recorded his remarks and posted them to Facebook. She published the archdiocese's phone number and urged followers to demand that Father Chávez and his associate priest be removed. Catholic News Agency reported that she repeated that call throughout July.

Coverage consistently describes Griego as a mosque opponent. What we have not found is any published statement from her explaining her objection to the mosque itself. Her public posts focus on the priest, not the Islamic Center.

Father Chávez answered on the parish letterboard: "Racism, a grave sin against God's love," and beneath it, "Katrina G."

A pastor putting a parishioner-critic's name under the word "racism," on a sign facing a public street, is a choice. The fundraiser page set up for Romero quotes a KOAT interview in which Father Chávez was asked whether he regretted it. He said "Yeah," and that the July 22 events most likely would not have happened otherwise.

Griego went to the church to film the sign. Father Chávez came out and, by his own account to KOB, told her he would not want to hear Jesus condemn him to eternal fire "because of your racism." In her Facebook Live, Griego said the priest recognized her as the woman always photographing his signs, and called her racist and "probably a Trumpster."

After the priest walked away, the facilities director asked her to leave. She called her boyfriend, David Romero, 72.

The Metro Court complaint, as reported by the Albuquerque Journal, says the groundskeeper told police that Romero took a gun from his vehicle, pointed it at him and at Father Chávez, and threatened to kill him. The groundskeeper pepper-sprayed Romero and hit Griego as well. ("I got maced," she said on Facebook Live.) Romero then tried to drive off with the priest standing behind his vehicle.

Romero's version, per the complaint: he grabbed the gun but never pointed it at anyone, and he did not mean to hit Father Chávez with the car.

Romero is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police have not charged Griego, and they have not charged any parish employee.

A week later, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and Quaker leaders gathered at St. Therese to denounce the violence. Archbishop John C. Wester issued a statement defending the right of Albuquerque's Muslims to build their mosque. CAIR welcomed the charges against Romero.

Griego's side has a complaint of its own. The GiveSendGo page for Romero's legal defense says he and Griego have received death threats, including threats against members of their families. When OSV News asked her for comment, Griego answered by Facebook message that they were hiring Albuquerque defense attorney Lisa Torraco.

That leaves a woman who started out policing a church's politics at the center of a case about a gun on church grounds, with threats now running in both directions.

The New Mexico Inquirer built this profile from Albuquerque Journal, KOB, Santa Fe New Mexican, OSV News, Catholic News Agency and Piñon Post coverage, the criminal complaint as reported by the Journal, Griego's public Facebook posts as reported by those outlets, and the public GiveSendGo page for Romero's defense. We have not independently reviewed the full court file or Griego's Facebook account. Statements about what happened on July 22 are allegations from the complaint and the parties' own accounts; Romero has not been convicted of anything. We are looking for anyone with firsthand knowledge of the threats made against the Albuquerque Islamic Center before the June hearing, or of threats made against Griego and Romero. We contacted Griego and Romero through attorney Lisa Torraco, and also Father Chávez, CAIR, Albuquerque Police and the Second Judicial District Attorney's office. Our email to the Albuquerque Islamic Center bounced, and we are reaching the center by phone. Responses will be added as dated updates. Tips and corrections: [email protected] or 505-932-9060.