(The Center Square) - Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, called on Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to resign after she said people who feel they are in danger are legally allowed to shoot masked federal law enforcement officers.
Mayes made these comments in an interview with 12News, where she said, “We have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.”
Mayes told the news outlet she was not advocating for shooting law enforcement. However, she asked, “How do you know they're a peace officer? That's the key … If you're being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer, how do you know?”
Kavanagh told The Center Square that Mayes’ comments about people being able to legally “shoot law enforcement officers if their faces are covered and they’re wearing non-traditional SWAT-type uniforms is false.”
He added that this comment by the attorney general was “irresponsible and incendiary.”
Her comments are “putting the lives of federal and local law enforcement officers engaged in such dangerous work at risk,” the state senator explained.
“She needs to recant her statement and resign in disgrace,” Kavanagh said.
“Kris Mayes is the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Arizona. She has just given drug cartel members [and] dangerous criminals a license to kill cops,” he noted.
Kavanagh said if cartel members or dangerous criminals kill a cop, they will use the attorney general’s comments as a “defense.”
“ I don't want to see the chief law enforcement officer of Arizona as the star witness for the defense in a gang banger or drug cartel member's murder trial when they kill a cop,” Kavanagh told The Center Square.
According to Kavanagh, Democrats have “become so insanely anti-immigration enforcement that they’ll demonize immigration officers at every chance they get.”
He described federal law enforcement officers as “sworn officers who took an oath to enforce the immigration law that is law of the land.”
America’s immigration laws are democratic laws “that need to be enforced,” Kavanagh explained.
“President Trump got elected because he said he would enforce [immigration laws], and the Democrats lost because they opened our border,” he told The Center Square.
Besides Kavanagh, U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Surprise, condemned Mayes' statement.
“Kris Mayes’ comments justifying the murder of our ICE agents were reprehensible but entirely predictable. This is the natural consequence of elevating a far-left political activist to Arizona’s top law enforcement position,” he noted.
Hamadeh said nothing in Arizona’s Stand Your Ground Law gives citizens the right to use lethal force against law enforcement.
Arizona Police Association Executive Director Joe Clure, an organization that represents more than 12,000 police officers, said law enforcement “is inherently dangerous work,” but Mayes’ recent comments “have the potential to make it even more dangerous.”
“ICE agents are sworn federal law enforcement officers carrying out the lawful duties of the federal government. Publicly speculating about how someone might legally justify shooting an ICE agent sends a dangerous and irresponsible message, particularly in an already tense and polarized environment,” Clure said.
“Words from elected officials matter. It only takes one unstable individual to interpret such commentary as permission or encouragement to use deadly force against police officers,” he added.
In a video on Sunday, Mayes said the "idea that [she] would want the life of any member of law enforcement put in danger is wrong and offensive."
"It is an outright lie," she added.
Mayes said state residents do "not want masked agents entering their homes without warrants." She called these actions "un-American" and threatening to "the rights and safety of everyone in our state."
“ICE’s behavior is destroying the public’s trust in law enforcement and putting every American, including local law enforcement, in danger. It will take years, if not decades, to undo the damage that has been done over the past 12 months,” Mayes noted.
The Center Square reached out to Mayes’ office for comment, but it did not respond before press time.
But Arizona Senate Democrats voiced their support for Mayes in a statement.
"Violence and chaos are not welcome in Arizona," the Democrats said. "Attorney General Kris Mayes knows this, and she's fighting to protect Arizonans in a new political reality where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasingly comfortable violating the civil rights of U.S. Citizens and those here legally. This is about public safety, and Attorney Mayes is right. We are unfortunately likely to experience a tragedy in Arizona if the ICE enforcement actions continue as they have been."
"The Attorney General was describing our new legal reality – not encouraging anyone to harm law enforcement," the Senate Democrats continued. "She was warning that unconstitutional and irresponsible procedures can create tragic events and that no one should have to guess whether the armed person breaking in their door is a criminal or a peace officer."
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