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JOURNAL INVESTIGATION

What happened between authorities and NM House Rep. Joseph Hernandez at a Chicago hotel?

Records, eyewitnesses describe a late-night disturbance involving public nudity, banging on doors and a police escort off the property

Rep. Joseph Hernandez, D-Shiprock, talks with Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, on the House Floor, Jan. 23. A police incident report and two eyewitnesses shed new light on what might have happened during an encounter Hernandez had with Chicago police and security at a Holiday Inn last month.
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When first asked about an encounter he had with security and law enforcement at a Chicago hotel last month, New Mexico House Rep. Joseph Hernandez issued a two-sentence statement, alluding to 鈥渁 negative interaction鈥 that he said ended quickly, with him finding new accommodations in the city.

But an incident report the Chicago Police Department recently released to the Journal indicates that what happened the morning of July 29, when the representative left the Holiday Inn at Wolf Point, was neither unremarkable nor brief.

The heavily redacted document summarizes a roughly two-hour incident that began at 2:30 a.m. on the high-rise鈥檚 17th floor, where the representative was staying.

That鈥檚 when someone contacted emergency services about a man 鈥渞unning around naked鈥 and 鈥渂anging and knocking on other guests鈥 doors.鈥

While the individual鈥檚 name is redacted from the report, descriptors of the 38-year-old suspect appear to match Hernandez, and two eyewitnesses independently attested they are certain the man suspected in the disturbance is the Shiprock Democrat running for reelection this year.

According to a travel log the Journal obtained last month, Hernandez checked into room 1745 on the 17th floor under a government discount code on July 26 and checked out the morning of July 29, the day of the incident.

Two Chicago police officers responded to the complaint of the naked man causing a disturbance around 2:44 a.m., finding him by then 鈥渇ully clothed鈥 and standing by security, according to the incident summary.

They described him as 5-foot-6, 280 pounds, with short black hair and a light-brown complexion, birth date of 1987.

Officers indicated that the suspect had pulled up photos of himself on his phone, 鈥渄emanding (responding officers) to know who he is 鈥︹ and insisting he be allowed to return to his room.

A hotel staff member evidently nixed that idea, informing officers that the man鈥檚 reservation had been 鈥渃ancelled due to (his) behavior and breaking hotel rules.鈥

Police say they accompanied the man to his room to collect his belongings and then escorted him out of the hotel, explaining he had been 鈥渇ormally trespassed from the property.鈥 They waited as he ordered transportation from a ride share service that took him to another hotel.

Rep stays silent

The short statement Hernandez provided to the Journal last month about the premature end to his stay at the hotel follows a similar sequence, though the representative has declined multiple requests for comment to explain why the incident escalated to include police or led him to leave the property.

"During my recent stay in Chicago, I had a negative experience with a hotel security guard that resulted in a visit from Chicago Police,鈥 Hernandez said in the statement. 鈥淭he situation was resolved quickly as I relocated to a new hotel, where I stayed for the remainder of my trip."

Legislators from around the country traveled to Chicago for the National Conference of State Legislatures summit the week Hernandez was there, but the organization would not release a list of attendees and the representative had also not filed any travel receipts related to the trip as of Aug. 14, according to the Legislative Council Service.

Asked about the incident when reached on his cellphone July 31, Hernandez said little, making reference to 鈥渁 security guard鈥 and then claiming he was losing the signal, despite no interference with the phone call.

He said he would be available for a call later that afternoon, but never answered his phone again and did not respond to requests for comment.

Legislative spokesperson Pamela Armstrong told the Journal this month that House leadership has advised her that all questions on the matter should flow through her, but she also did not provide a response to requests for comment for this story.

Eyewitness accounts

The two eyewitnesses, who live in Chicago and spoke to the Journal on the condition of anonymity to protect their employment, said hotel staff and security searched the man鈥檚 name from the incident online and were stunned when their inquiry led them to a photo of Hernandez on the New Mexico Legislature website.

When the Journal sent the witnesses another photo of Hernandez and asked them to rank their level of certainty on a scale of 1-10 that the man accused of causing the disturbance and the representative are one and the same, they didn鈥檛 equivocate.

One witness said, 鈥10,鈥 and the other responded, 鈥淚f not an 11.鈥

The allegations made in the police report were evidence-based, they claim, both stating that other hotel guests, including a female, were alarmed to find the representative naked and banging on their doors in the wee hours of July 29.

One of the witnesses said they were involved in the response to the incident directly and claimed Hernandez 鈥減ushed鈥 them near an elevator as they attempted to get him back to his room.

Once police arrived, however, the witness said Hernandez had put his clothes back on and accused security and the hotel of racial bias.

The other witness said cameras were likely operating in the elevator where the alleged altercation occurred, but it鈥檚 unclear how closely the responding officers examined the events described in the original complaint.

The call relayed by the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications classified the original dispatch notice as a 鈥渟ex offense call,鈥 but the Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting code on the report was 鈥渃riminal trespass.鈥

Police do not appear to have filed any charges tied to what happened, and Hernandez is not listed anywhere in Chicago First Municipal District court records.

The police report also doesn鈥檛 indicate whether officers interviewed any other guests, sought surveillance footage for review or otherwise investigated the potentially criminal allegations, such as breach of peace or disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors in Illinois.

On a separate evening during Hernandez鈥檚 stay, the witnesses said security was called after the representative 鈥減assed out鈥 with his shoes off on a couch in the lobby of the hotel, which sits at the confluence of the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River and shares space with the higher-floor Hotel Voco.

As of Saturday, the Chicago Emergency Communication Center had not provided records of any other police responses to the hotel on July 29.

Ethical standards, upcoming election

Reached by phone earlier this month, Democratic House Speaker Javier Mart铆nez said he planned to ask Hernandez about the incident directly, but could not speak to whether an official ethics investigation had been or would be opened.

Outside of the regular 30-day session, the House speaker said any ethics complaints are filed with the New Mexico Interim Legislative Ethics Committee, which former director, Raul Burciaga, currently leads in a contract role.

Similar to most states, ethics complaints against House and Senate officials in New Mexico remain confidential unless they result in a public hearing, the final stage in the disciplinary process, so it remains unclear whether any official complaints have been filed against Hernandez.

鈥淚f a complaint has been filed, there is a process whereby leadership gets together and determines whether or not it should move forward for an investigation,鈥 Burciaga explained. 鈥淚f it goes to an investigation, the investigation is conducted confidentially, so there's still no release of that information, and it is up to the investigative subcommittee to determine whether or not there is probable cause to move forward.鈥

The 38-year-old Navajo Nation member from Pueblo, Colorado, moved to the Four Corners when he was young and won this year鈥檚 Democratic primary.

Hernandez took office in 2025 after defeating Republican candidate Lincoln Mark for the District 4 seat, which was vacated after former Rep. Anthony Allison, D-Fruitland, retired.

Hernandez has been a vocal advocate for clean energy alternatives in the oil-and-gas-dominated district. At age 38, the longtime community organizer is one of the youngest New Mexicans to represent District 4, which encompasses Sandoval County, parts of Farmington and a significant swath of Navajo Nation in the Four Corners.

In November, he will face Republican challenger Heather Ellison, an educator and fellow Navajo, who in a statement on Aug. 6 urged Hernandez to explain what happened in Chicago.

鈥淟egislators are held to a certain ethical standard, and they have a responsibility to be transparent, especially when spending taxpayer dollars,鈥 Ellison said. 鈥淭his incident is certainly concerning, and I call upon Representative Hernandez to tell the truth and take accountability for what happened.鈥

John Miller is the Journal鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.