Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is under attack after making comments indicating that shooting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could be justified.
Mayes said Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law allows the use of lethal forces when threatened, according to Fox News.
“It’s kind of a recipe for disaster because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks,” Mayes told an interviewer for KPNX-TV in Phoenix, according to Fox.
“And 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.”
🔥🚨 BREAKING: Arizona Democrat AG Kris Mayes is facing calls to RESIGN, many calling for her to be PROSECUTED after she suggested people SHOOT ICE agents.
“Well…if you’re being attacked by [someone] wearing a mask……” @AGPamBondi this one needs your attention… pic.twitter.com/Bci41trJKP
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) January 23, 2026
“If you’re being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer — how do you know?” Mayes said.
Mayes said ICE agents were “very poorly trained,” according to the New York Post.
Mayes said she was not encouraging violence but only stating the facts.
“If you’re being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer — how do you know?” she said, adding that “real cops don’t wear masks.”
“I mean if somebody comes at me wearing a mask, by the way, I’m a gun owner, and I can’t tell whether they’re a police officer, what am I supposed to do? No, I’m not suggesting people pull out their guns, but this is a ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ state,” she said, according to Fox.
The words carry particular weight from an official like Mayes, who is not only an attorney general, but the attorney general of a border state that was hit badly by the tsunami of illegal immigration during the Joe Biden presidency.
A volley of criticism followed her comments.
“What I was hearing coming from the Arizona attorney general, the highest law enforcement representative in the state of Arizona, who was basically giving a tutorial on how to shoot police officers, specifically ICE agents,” said Joe Clure, executive director of the Arizona Police Association, according to KPHO-TV in Phoenix.
“It only takes one to believe that they now have a license or a green light to shoot at police officers in the course and scope of their duties and that’s what concerns us,” he said.
Left out the part about Kris Mayes suggesting individuals could shoot ICE agents.pic.twitter.com/KvmkaSJCEJ https://t.co/ktbjV4Sh4S
— Andy Biggs (@andybiggs4az) January 23, 2026
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh called upon Mayes to “immediately retract what she said, admit that it was bad and dangerous advice and following that, she needs to resign in disgrace.”
“I knocked on a lot of doors doing no-knock warrants. And even if the person didn’t know I was a cop, you don’t get to shoot somebody because they knocked on your door or pushed it in. That’s not deadly force being threatened against you. Deadly force is someone who points a gun at you and tries to kill you,” he said.
Kris Mayes wrapped her comments in “don’t tread on me,” then went on television and explained how Arizona’s stand your ground law could justify shooting at masked federal agents if someone can’t identify them as law enforcement.
Let’s not pretend this was some careful legal…
— David Schweikert (@DavidSchweikert) January 23, 2026
In a statement posted to his website, Republican U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh of Arizona said the comments 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 said.
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