Politics
Arizona Democrats ditch campaign office after suspect is arrested in shooting incidents
Authorities in Arizona say a man arrested in connection with a string of shootings targeting Democratic campaign offices in the Phoenix area kept more than 120 guns at his home and apparently had been plotting a mass casualty event.
On Thursday, a source confirmed to NBC News that Democrats are no longer using the office, which was targeted in three separate shootings. The suspect, a 60-year-old man named Jeffrey Michael Kelly, was arrested Tuesday on several charges, including committing an act of terrorism, unlawful discharge of a firearm and shooting at a nonresidential structure.
And more charges may be on the way. As NBC News reported:
Police said Wednesday that additional charges may be filed in connection with plastic bags containing a white powdery substance hung on political signs that Kelly is accused of posting and lining with razor blades in the village of Ahwatukee, where he lives.
When he was arrested, Kelly had a machine gun and “numerous guns in his car to potentially do something,” Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Neha Bhatia said.
“The state and law enforcement believes that this person was preparing to commit an act of mass casualty with the guns he had,” Bhatia said at Kelly’s initial appearance in Superior Court, saying investigators also found multiple machine guns, loaded firearms, silencers, long-range scopes and body armor in his home.
A defense attorney, Jason Squires, warned against prejudging Kelly, whom he described as a retired aerospace engineer and a “sportsman” who had licenses for legally owning a variety of firearms, NBC News reported.
MAGA conspiracy theorists have helped turn Arizona, which has seen historic shifts toward Democratic politicians in recent years, into a hotbed of extremism — and a target for violent extremists outside the state. For the first time, the state’s governor, two U.S. senators, secretary of state and attorney general are all Democrats. And Democrats are now vying to win full control of the state Legislature for the first time in nearly 60 years.
A lot of far-right fury has been conjured up in the meantime. This week, an Alabama man received prison time after making death threats against Arizona election workers. And recent reports have highlighted the spate of violent threats that election workers in the state have been facing more broadly.
And now, in Arizona, we seem to have yet another example of an extremist who’s willing to deploy violent threats in an effort to intimidate those seen as opponents to the MAGA cause.
Ja’han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He’s a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”
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Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday called video footage of the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota “deeply troubling” as he urged a full investigation into the deadly incident.
“In the wake of the tragic shooting that claimed the life of Alex Pretti this weekend, our prayers are with his family, the citizens of Minneapolis and local, state and federal law enforcement officers serving there,” Pence said in a post on X. “The images of this incident are deeply troubling and a full and transparent investigation of this officer involved shooting must take place immediately.”
Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday. The incident, which occurred about 2 miles from where Renee Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7, has ignited a heated debate between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials amid intense scrutiny of the tactics of the president’s immigration crackdown.
Protesters have flooded the streets of Minnesota in the aftermath of Pretti’s killing.
State leaders have alleged federal officials have blocked them from being involved in an investigation into the shooting. Administration officials have accused Minnesota authorities of refusing to collaborate with immigration authorities on deportations.
But Pence on Monday called for law enforcement at all levels to work together on investigating the latest shooting.
“The focus now should be to bring together law enforcement at every level to address the concerns in the community even while ensuring that dangerous illegal aliens are apprehended and no longer a threat to families in Minneapolis,” Pence said.
The former vice president is the latest high-profile Republican to express concerns over the events unfolding in Minnesota. Like Pence, some of the party’s top voices have called for a full investigation into the shooting.
Others have disputed the administration’s justification that Pretti’s carrying of a gun was legal justification for his killing, which Pence echoed on Monday.
“The American people deserve to have safe streets, our laws enforced and our constitutional rights of Freedom of Speech, peaceable assembly and the right to keep and bear Arms respected and preserved all at the same time,” said Pence. “That’s how Law and Order and Freedom work together in America.”
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