By Staff Reporter |

The transgender Muslim Antifa activist whom Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to prosecute for a 2024 murder has once again threatened gun violence ahead of scheduled anti-Trump protests.

Sumayyah Dawud posted the threat on Facebook last week. Dawud fatally shot Paul Franco, 51, on July 4, 2024.

By Franco’s girlfriend’s account, Franco was shot while defending Renteria from Dawud and other pro-Palestine protesters that had followed them home. By the protesters’ account, Franco instigated the confrontation, and was shot after he attacked a protester who assaulted Renteria. 

In his most recent post, Dawud included a quote from Malcom X which warns that freedom doesn’t come peacefully. 

“Armed resistance is the answer to oppression and violence,” said Dawud. “Not love, hugs, and peace with our enemies.”

Dawud identifies as a woman. His former aliases were Britney Erica Austin and Eric Austin.

Following Franco’s slaying, Dawud had his counsel through the People’s Law Firm submit a letter to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) defending the shooting as self-defense, as reported by ABC15. 

After some investigating, Phoenix Police Department (PPD) executed a search warrant on Dawud’s home. At the beginning of last year, PPD stated probable cause existed to charge Dawud with murder. Specifically, PPD recommended filing charges for second-degree murder and discharging a firearm within city limits.

Attorney General Mayes received this recommendation sometime around January 2025. The MCAO also referred the case to Mayes. Their agency recused itself because Dawud was involved in an ongoing lawsuit against them and PPD over his arrest during a Black Lives Matter riot in 2020. 

Mayes’ office has not acted on those referrals. Without any charges pending, Dawud is free to attend another protest that could turn violent, based on the previous No Kings protests across the Valley last year.

Dawud issued his most recent comment advocating for gun violence just days before another series of scheduled No Kings protests are to occur. 

Renteria recalled how Dawud approached Franco and shot him.

“I just remember a black shadow just walking up to Paul and then shooting him,” said Renteria. 

In another post from last month, Dawud expressed a desire to burn down the planned ICE facility in Surprise.

“I am glad that ICE facility being built in Surprise was vandalized,” said Dawud. “Too bad it wasn’t burned to the f*****g ground.” 

Per his social media posts, Dawud has been a constant presence at protests outside of ICE facilities. 

In a recent post discussing white colonialism, Dawud made the argument that white people needed to martyr themselves for black and brown people, especially during protests. Franco, who Dawud shot, was a man of color and a father.

“White people have the most privilege. White people are occupying stolen land. And for the most part, white people don’t do s**t,” said Dawud. “There’s nothing a White person experiences here on Turtle Island that a person of color doesn’t experience ten times worse.”

Turtle Island refers to a Native American name for North America.

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