Arizona lawmaker sends hate-fueled reply-all email after a colleague called for unity

In a call for all elected officials, no matter their party, to come together and tone down divisive rhetoric following the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, State House Rep. Sarah Liguori (D-Phoenix) sent an email on Sept. 14 to all 60 members of the state House of Representatives condemning “violent rhetoric.”

Liguori called for unity and civility in the face of recent tragic violence, from the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the assassination and attempted assassination of two Minnesota state legislators, and a growing number of shootings at schools.

“Violent actions don’t happen in a vacuum. Violent rhetoric fuels violent threats, which can empower individuals to real violence,” Liguori wrote. 

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In her email, Liguori did not explicitly blame any party or ideology for the rise in politically-motivated violence. She instead pointed out that many lawmakers have recently faced threats and acts of violence. 

Several Democrats in the Arizona House of Representatives now say they feel unsafe around one particular Republican lawmaker after he sent a reply-all email to Liguori’s message, filled with misinformation and slurs, writing that the Democratic Party “has woken the sleeping giant” after the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

Provoked by Liguori’s message, State House Rep. John Gillette (R-Kingman) sent a reply-all response to Arizona House members, writing that ”unity is no longer an option,” and comparing Democrats to the Japanese attackers on Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 terrorists, provoking safety concerns from Democratic House members. 

“Your party invited the radicals to the table and they took over. Now you own them. As the [Japanese] did at [Pearl] Harbor, Radical Muslims on 911…” Gillette wrote.

State House Rep. Oscar De Los Santos (D-Laveen) condemned Gillette’s message and called for other lawmakers to do the same. 

“Such comparisons are beyond inflammatory and in the current climate are credibly being taken as a call to violence against Democratic lawmakers,” De Los Santos said in an email relayed to the press. “Given that Representative Gillette is known to carry a firearm, several members have expressed that they no longer feel safe in his presence.” 

Gillette seemingly found Liguori’s email to be an attack on Republicans, stating that “division and violence is being stoked” by Democrats.

“[Gillette’s] response contains a number of factual inaccuracies. More troubling, however, is his decision to compare Democratic members of this Legislature to the terrorists who attacked America on 9/11 and to the foreign military that killed more than 2,500 servicemen at Pearl Harbor,” De Los Santos said.

Gillette wrote that the Democratic Party “demonizes half the nation,” fueling an environment of political violence, also falsely claiming that the last eight school shooters were transgender, a debunked talking point that has run rampant on the internet following Kirk’s death. 

READ MORE: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk dies after being shot at Utah college event

Liguori called for peace, treating others with respect, and asked for efforts to “set a better tone” in an attempt to cool down the political climate, stating that political rhetoric is partially what led to the tragedy.

“The easy path is to lean into division,” she wrote. “The harder, more necessary path is to find the strength in ourselves — and the responsibility we owe the people we serve — to model decency, not destruction.”

Gillette claimed Liguori “failed to acknowledge” a false conspiracy theory about the suspected Minnesota gunman’s motive for shooting the lawmakers.

Kirk, a conservative influencer and founder of Phoenix-based Turning Point USA, a far-right political nonprofit, was assassinated at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah during a political event on Sept. 10.

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, has been arrested for shooting Kirk, and officials have not yet identified a clear motive. 

“We all feel the weight of this. Too many of us have faced this violence ourselves. Members have had armed individuals show up at their door, shots fired at their house, and just this month a colleague had to move out of their home from increasing death threats. These are not abstract risks,” Liguori wrote.

Gillette has recently faced criticism for his Islamophobic posts on X, calling Muslims “savages” and lamenting that the religious group should “go back where they came from.”

The Republican-led state House Ethics Committee declined to launch an investigation into his actions, citing Gillette’s First Amendment rights. 

“There is no ‘us versus them.’ We may represent different districts and different parties, but that shouldn’t define us, because at the end of the day, we are moms and dads, sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors,” Liguori wrote. “I want each of us to return safely to our families every night, just as our families want us to. I hope we can hold fast to that common ground and set a better tone together.”