The following is excerpted from Wikipedia.

When Tierra Amarilla was designated as the county seat, the villagers set about building a courthouse. This structure was demolished to make way for the present one, designed by Isaac Rapp in the neoclassical style.

In 1967, the Alianza Federal de Mercedes, led by Reies Tijerina, raided the Rio Arriba County Courthouse in an attempt to make a citizen's arrest of the district attorney "to bring attention to the unscrupulous means by which government and Anglo settlers had usurped Hispanic land grant properties." An armed struggle in the courthouse ensued resulting in Tijerina and his group fleeing to the south with hostages.

The National Guard, FBI and New Mexico State Police successfully pursued Tijerina, who was sentenced to less than three years.