By Staff Reporter |
An owner of a Tucson beauty spa said she has plans to poison ICE agents.
Tucson spa owner Helen Barayeva posted a video to her since-deleted spa business account on TikTok describing her goal to give food poisoning to ICE agents. Barayeva also indicated her intention to come up with other “biological weapon” tactics to employ against immigration enforcement.
“I know what we can do. We can figure out where they’re giving their food, right? The ICE agents? And we can at least give them food poisoning. That’s easy to do,” said Barayeva. “All you have to do is not wash your hands when you’re prepping their food. I mean, how easy is that, right? That is a biological weapon. Okay, I’m going to come up with more.”
Barayeva owned Refreshed Looks Aesthetics, at the time housed inside the Les Cheveux Salon and Boutique.
Barayeva, a former dental hygienist, has also used her Facebook business page to air some of her political views on President Donald Trump, though her “biological weapon” video from TikTok was not on that page as of this report.
Since Barayeva’s post received criticisms online, Barayeva has deleted her Instagram, X, TikTok, and Threads accounts. Her Facebook page remains active as of this report.
The available archived posts from Barayeva indicate long-standing support for progressive politics.
“Joy [Behar], I absolutely love and adore you. Keep speaking the truth,” said Barayeva in one X (then Twitter) post from 2021. “God bless you and give you many great years ahead. I watch the View every day and love your perspective.”
Multiple individuals on social media indicated that they reported Barayeva to authorities for her threats of violence.
This month, the Department of Homeland Security reported an 8,000 percent increase in death threats against federal law enforcement and their families, notably on the deep web. DHS also reported over 1,300 percent increase in assaults and 3,200 percent increase in vehicular attacks.
The agency says Democratic leadership is to blame for encouraging political violence among their followers.
“We’re having our ICE lawyers stalked and being followed on their way home,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, in an interview with Fox News. “I think it’s about time the left looks in the mirror and says ‘enough is enough.’ And they have to put public safety and law enforcement safety ahead of their own political gain.”
Arizona’s Democratic congressional leaders are working to stop the expanded immigration enforcement efforts.
Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego introduced a bill last week to remove ICE agents’ ability to apply use of force. Their press release on the bill cited the shooting of Renee Good, an anti-ICE activist who sustained a fatal gunshot wound earlier this month when she attempted to drive forward into an ICE agent during a protest in Minnesota.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero depicted ICE agents as unnecessary agents of violence.
“No community should be subjected to fear, intimidation or violence in the name of immigration enforcement,” said Romero. “The unchecked violence, masked agents, and excessive use of force is creating fear and chaos in our communities.”
In a video posted earlier this week to Instagram, Romero advocated for protesters to abstain from violence.
“I ask that you be peaceful and nonviolent in your protests. They’re so much more powerful to make your point,” said Romero. “Stay safe and please stay nonviolent.”
Phoenix City Councilman Kevin Robinson accused ICE of undermining trust in law enforcement.
“Clear standards and transparency help ensure enforcement is conducted responsibly and with respect for the people it affects,” said Robinson.
In his statement on the bill, Sen. Kelly also came to the defense of ICE protesters, even those impeding immigration enforcement operations. Kelly claimed the present budget for ICE is excessive because it exceeds that of the Marine Corps.
Rep. Eli Crane said Kelly was wrong to defend the protesters and criticize the ICE budget. The congressman said ICE’s increased budget and show of force were necessary to bring the illegal immigration crisis to heel.
“Why, Senator [Kelly], does the budget of ICE have to be larger than the U.S. Marine Corps? Oh, that’s because you and President Joe Biden and all the other Democrats let 15 to 20 million illegal aliens into this country, and now the American people after they saw the ramifications of that gave President Trump and Republicans a mandate to fix it,” said Rep. Crane.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
