{"id":2540,"date":"2026-01-24T15:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/?p=2540"},"modified":"2026-01-24T15:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:33:56","slug":"arizona-ag-kris-mayes-wildly-suggests-residents-could-shoot-unidentifiable-masked-ice-agents-under-states-self-defense-laws-recipe-for-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/2026\/01\/24\/arizona-ag-kris-mayes-wildly-suggests-residents-could-shoot-unidentifiable-masked-ice-agents-under-states-self-defense-laws-recipe-for-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona AG Kris Mayes wildly suggests residents could shoot unidentifiable masked ICE agents under state\u2019s self-defense laws: \u2018Recipe for disaster\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/22\/us-news\/arizona-ag-wildly-suggests-residents-can-shoot-masked-ice-agents-under-states-self-defense-laws<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wildly suggested that residents could open fire on masked ICE agents if they feel their life is in danger under the state\u2019s self-defense laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democrat, in a sit-down with 12 News anchor Brahm Resnik<\/a>, warned that Arizona\u2019s \u201cStand Your Ground\u201d law, which allows citizens to use deadly force if they believe they\u2019re in imminent danger, could become a \u201crecipe for disaster\u201d if protesters clash with immigration officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Mayes said in the Monday interview, calling ICE \u201cvery poorly trained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arizona<\/a>
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wildly suggested that residents can open fire on masked ICE agents under the state\u2019s \u201cStand Your Ground\u201d law. 12news.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you\u2019re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A flabbergasted Resnik repeatedly challenged Mayes, cautioning that her remarks could be interpreted as a \u201clicense\u201d to residents to shoot a federal agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She retorted that she was merely stating a \u201cfact,\u201d not encouraging violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer \u2014 how do you know?\u201d the state\u2019s top prosecutor pressed, adding that \u201creal cops don\u2019t wear masks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI mean if somebody comes at me wearing a mask, by the way, I\u2019m a gun owner, and I can\u2019t tell whether they\u2019re a police officer, what am I supposed to do? No, I\u2019m not suggesting people pull out their guns, but this is a \u2018Don\u2019t Tread On Me\u2019 state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attorney general, who was elected in 2022, unleashed her jaw-dropping comments as immigration officers begin to spread into parts of the Grand Canyon State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arizona<\/a>
A flabbergasted Resnik repeatedly challenged Mayes, cautioning that her comments could be interpreted as a \u201clicense\u201d to residents to shoot a federal agent. 12news.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Arizona<\/a>
The attorney general, who was elected in 2022, unleashed her jaw-dropping comments as immigration officers begins to spread into parts of the Grand Canyon State. AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She vowed to prosecute any ICE agent who violates state laws after operations in Minnesota sparked widespread unrest when a federal officer fatally shot protester Renee Nicole Good<\/a> when she clipped him with her car during a heated confrontation on Jan. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) blasted the attorney general, calling her rhetoric \u201creckless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not pretend this was some careful legal seminar,\u201d the gubernatorial candidate wrote on X.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Federal<\/a>
Immigration operations in Minnesota sparked widespread unrest when a federal officer fatally shot protester Renee Nicole Good when she clipped him with her car during a heated confrontation on Jan. 7. X\/@maxnesterak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was the attorney general of Arizona freelancing a scenario where bullets start flying and then shrugging it off as \u2018just the law.\u2019 That is reckless on its face. If your job is to enforce the law, you do not go on TV and hand out a permission structure for violence, then act surprised when people hear it as a green light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWords matter. Especially when they come from the state\u2019s top lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Homeland Security has accused liberal leaders of stoking the flames, repeatedly urging them to dial back their blistering rhetoric amid an alarming uptick in violence against officers.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Border<\/a>
The Department of Homeland Security has accused liberal leaders of stoking the flames, repeatedly urging them to dial back their blistering rhetoric amid an alarming uptick in violence against officers. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vice President JD Vance reiterated the request, pressing local officials to \u201ctone down the temperature\u201d during a visit to Minneapolis<\/a>, where protests have rocked the city since Good\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is direct threat calling for violence against our law enforcement officers \u2014 this kind of rhetoric is going to get someone killed,\u201d DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post in a statement Thursday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/22\/us-news\/arizona-ag-wildly-suggests-residents-can-shoot-masked-ice-agents-under-states-self-defense-laws Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wildly suggested that residents could open fire on masked ICE agents if they feel their life is in danger under the state\u2019s self-defense laws. The Democrat, in a sit-down with 12 News anchor Brahm…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2541,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions\/2541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}