PHOENIX — The Arizona Senate’s majority leader is calling on Attorney General Kris Mayes to resign over her warnings someone could open fire if federal immigration agents forcibly enter their homes without a warrant from a judge.
Mayes spoke with KTAR News on Thursday after the Associated Press reported on a memo authorizing U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents to use force to enter a home if they have an administrative warrant issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“My concern is that ICE has set up this situation that is so combustible in a state like Arizona that has a Stand Your Ground law,” she said. “Now, I don't want people using lethal force ever, ever against a police officer, but police officers, cops identify themselves.”
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Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, a former police officer, called Mayes’ remarks “incendiary” and “outrageous,” saying they endanger all law enforcement.
“If any of them are murdered, it's on her. She has the blood on her hands,” he said. “She needs to retract that statement and resign in disgrace.”
Kavanagh was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer for 20 years.
“I felt betrayed,” he told ABC15 on Friday. “I felt like she just pulled the rug out of cops and their families by exposing them to this danger.”
Her words give a legal defense to people who would kill police officers, he said.
"You will have cartel members and gang bangers who shoot and kill cops, claiming that they did it based on the legal advice of the Arizona attorney general," Kavanagh said.
Mayes stands by remarks
Mayes was not available for an interview on Friday, but her office defended her words in a statement.
“Attorney General Mayes believes words matter — and that the words in our Constitution matter most,” the statement said. “When armed, masked agents force their way into the homes of U.S. citizens without warrants, the risk of dangerous and volatile situations rises dramatically.”
On KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos, Mayes said Arizona has an expansive Stand Your Ground law, saying people can use lethal force to protect themselves if they reasonably believe their life is in danger, especially in their home or automobile.
“I'm shocked that there are Republicans down at the Legislature that are criticizing me for saying what is a fact in Arizona is," she said.
Mayes also raised concerns about the ICE memo, saying forced entries with a judicial warrant are a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Kavanagh said the issue does not justify Mayes’ remarks.
"I don't know how Kris Mayes jumps from a technical legal issue as to when you can enter a home to, you can shoot that cop if he's not wearing his traditional police uniform and his face is not covered,” he said.
When asked if he had concerns about agents entering homes, Kavanagh said: “The laws about when you can do a no-knock search versus a knock search serving a warrant, that's all well-founded. Now, these ICE officers are getting advice from the Department of Justice that in certain circumstances, they can.”
Former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said he shares Mayes' concerns, telling ABC15 entering homes with just an administrative warrant instead of a warrant signed by a judge is “a disaster waiting to happen.”
“Kris Mayes is absolutely correct,” he said.
Mayes: 'We aren't going to put up with that'
Mayes’ office in its statement said everyone should demand a federal government “that acts within the bounds of the law and the Constitution.”
The attorney general, who has already sued the Trump administration 36 times, vowed to prosecute federal agents if they break state law.
“And I can't sit here and tell you that we would win if this thing if they try to Minneapolize Phoenix, but we certainly aren't going to put up with that, because we don't need it,” she told KTAR News.
