The political scene has exploded in the purple state of Arizona, where Arizona Senate Majority Leader John Kavanaugh (R) has taken action to demand that the Arizona Attorney General, Kris Mayes (D), “step down in disgrace” over her comments about shooting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
For reference, the incident that sparked Republican outcry was an interview that Arizona AG Mayes conducted with 12 News NBC. During the interview, which was released on January 20, 2026, Mayes commented on the “Stand Your Ground” law in Arizona, one of the strongest such state-level self-defense laws in the country.
Using that to make a horrific comment about ICE, Mayes suggested that leftists could get away with shooting masked ICE agents, saying, “You have these masked, federal officers with very little identification — sometimes no identification — wearing plain clothes and masks and we have a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law that says if you reasonably believe your life is in danger and you’re in your house or in your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.”
Continuing, Mayes noted that masked men sometimes can’t be identified as law enforcement officers, suggesting that masked ICE agents could, then, legally be shot. She said, “It’s a fact that we have a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law and, in other states, un-uniformed, masked people who can’t be identified as police officers.”
Yet further, Mayes, who also claimed during the interview that ICE “is very poorly trained” and not “real law enforcement,” suggested that those who don’t know for sure masked men are ICE agents could shoot them, saying, horribly, “Now, you’re not allowed to shoot peace officers, but… how do you know they are a peace officer?”
As could be expected, Mayes faced intense backlash. For example, Arizona Senate Majority Leader Kavanaugh released a letter in which he said, in part, that Mayes needs to resign. He wrote, “Kris Mayes needs to immediately recant these statements… And given the severity of the danger she has created, she should step down in disgrace.”
Continuing, he argued that AG Mayes revealed herself to be utterly unfit for public office with her horrible comments about shooting ICE agents, saying, “Arizona deserves an Attorney General who defends law enforcement, upholds the rule of law, and understands the consequences of her words. Mayes has proven she is unfit for this office.”
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AZ Senate President Warren Petersen, posting about the matter on X, said, “Yet again, Kris Mayes is putting Arizonans and law enforcement at risk by justifying shooting plain-clothes ICE agents. Her comments are dangerous and disqualifying, and make our communities less safe.”
Watch Mayes here:
Also chiming in was the Arizona Police Association. It began by noting the horrid nature of her comments, saying, “During a televised interview with 12News journalist Brahm Resnik regarding a potential ICE deployment in Arizona, the Attorney General was asked whether she had a message for protesters. She responded by urging them to remain peaceful, respectful, and restrained, stating she would ‘protect’ them . . . However, the interview quickly shifted to a discussion of Arizona’s self-defense and ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws. In that context, Attorney General Mayes went on to describe scenarios under which a person could claim legal justification for shooting a law enforcement officer, specifically citing the possibility that ICE agents might not be easily identifiable due to masks or nontraditional uniforms.”
The letter added that those remarks were utterly unacceptable, saying, “As Arizona’s chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General has a responsibility to de-escalate, not inflame. We find these remarks reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous to the safety of all law enforcement professionals in this state.”