AZ Democrats ask GOP colleagues to condemn lawmaker who called for congresswoman to be 'hanged'

After state Rep. John Gillette called for a Democratic congresswoman to be hanged, Arizona Democrats are criticizing Gillette’s fellow Republicans for failing to condemn his words.

In a social media post last month, the Kingman lawmaker wrote that Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal should be “tried convicted and hanged” for comments she made about coordinating nonviolent resistance against the Trump administration.

Jayapal offers trainings as part of an effort called the Resistance Lab, and in one video, called for participants to be “strike ready” and “street ready.” In the context of political activism, that means prepared for labor strikes and forms of public protest, such as marches.

But when an X account reposted the video and called it a “call to violence,” Gillette responded.

“Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried convicted and hanged ... it will continue,” he wrote.

He doubled down in other comments, saying that the term “strike ready” is “a call to Antifa riots” and accused Jayapal of supporting Hamas.

Gillette's posts have since been restricted by X.

Gillette later told the Arizona Republic that “hanged” was a poor word choice and added that he should have said Jayapal should be subject to the death penalty — by firing squad — if found guilty of trying to overthrow the U.S. government.

Jayapal and Democratic state legislators have called on Republicans to condemn Gillette.

“The power rests with the people to nonviolently protest, and they know, the right wing and Republicans know how effective that is. That is exactly why they're trying to suppress us,” Jayapal said.

Democratic Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) said GOP lawmakers must call out such remarks.

"Now more than ever, it's important that we come together, we make that call for a bipartisan call for accountability when this language goes to the extremes,” she said.

All of Arizona’s Democratic congressmen wrote to state GOP House leaders on Wednesday adding their own call for repercussions against Gillette.

“Such rhetoric not only reflects poorly on your institution but contributes directly to the worsening of America’s political climate, eroding democratic norms, endangering public servants, and diminishing the reputation of the state of Arizona and its people,” the members wrote. “As leaders of the Arizona House, you bear a higher responsibility as elected officials to hold your members to standards that safeguard the integrity of the institution you serve. How this matter is addressed will shape both public trust in the Arizona Legislature and the example it sets for civic discourse.”

State House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear) and House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-Benson) did not respond to requests for comment.

A recall effort has been launched to remove Gillette, who told KJZZ reactions to his remarks are overblown.

“I never once said she should be killed,” Gillette said of Jayapal. “That is your fake news narrative, I called for due process and ultimate penalty if guilty for treason. … You should be ashamed for pushing this garbage.”

Escalating controversy

This isn’t the first time Democrats have called for action against Gillette this year.

As first reported by the Arizona Mirror, Gillette posted a string of anti-Muslim comments on social media in September.

“Send this anti-American terrorist back to sh*t hole he came from, if he is homegrown... protest their call to prayer,” Gillette posted in response to a video of Muslim man in Texas telling a store not to serve alcohol or pork.

“Islamophobia is a construct of the Marxist left I reject. I hear them state that they stand with Hamas and Iran, they want to bring Sharia Law to the US. They chant death to US. I have years of direct experience with these savages. Thier own religion preached convert or die. F*CK EM. If they want here to become the sh*t hole they left... they can go home. The democrats support them. DEMOCRATS HATE AMERICA!” Gillette posted.

Following those comments, state Democrats filed an ethics complaint against Gillette.

The Arizona Mirror was also the first to report that Diaz, the House ethics chair, declined to take it up.

“Remarks, statements, or opinions by a member, alone, are not traditionally the subject of an ethics inquiry,” Diaz wrote in a letter to Democrats accusing them of weaponizing the ethics process. “Members … have a First Amendment right to the freedom of speech,” he wrote.

On Sep. 14, following the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Rep. Sarah Liguori (D-Phoenix) wrote to all House members calling for members to “model decency” instead of embracing division.

In response, Gillette said Democrats have stoked the violence.

“The tone was set by your party; unity is no longer an option. We handed you an olive ranch [sic], and you broke it. Your party invited the radicals to the table and they took over. Now you own them. As the Japs did at Peral [sic] Harbor, Radical Muslims on 911, your party has woken the sleeping giant,” he wrote.

At the time, Democrats again called for action from GOP leaders, saying some members now feel unsafe around Gillette.

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

GOP response to ethics request against Democratic senator

In August, Sen. Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix) reposted information on Instagram about ICE activity near a school in her district.

She was hit with backlash from various Republicans, including Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who said Ortiz was effectively doxxing and endangering the lives of law enforcement officers.

Hoffman filed an ethics complaint against Ortiz and called for her expulsion.

Senate Ethics Chair Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) took up the complaint. She also contacted interim U.S. attorney for Arizona Timothy Courchaine and asked him to investigate Ortiz to see if she committed a federal crime.

For her part, Ortiz said her actions are protected by free speech.

Sundareshan said there’s a clear and intentional discrepancy between the GOP response to Ortiz’s comments and their lack of response to Gillette’s.

“It's intended to chill our First Amendment protected activity of free speech. It's intended to chill our ability to speak out against what we're, you know, the rising authoritarianism that we're seeing,” Sundareshan said.