24-year-old Daniel Ashpes of the Tempe Union High School District was arrested for threats against Donald Trump Jr. and Turning Point USA founder, CEO Charlie Kirk.
The Tempe Police Department announced Ashpes’s arrest on Tuesday; he was taken into custody on Thursday, Oct. 17. Ashpes messaged threats directed at Trump Jr. and Kirk through a mass messaging system while they were in town for a political rally last week.
“Daniel Ashpes was taken into custody by Tempe police on Thursday, after detectives were notified of threatening messages sent in response to an automated mass-messaging system asking for an RSVP to the Turning Point rally at a Tempe hotel,” said the department on Facebook. “TPD’s Threat Mitigation Unit launched an immediate investigation and developed probable cause for Ashpes’ arrest that same day. In an interview with detectives, Ashpes admitted to sending the messages.”
The Tempe Police Department is announcing the arrest of 24-year-old Daniel Ashpes for multiple counts of online threats made toward Donald Trump Jr., and Charlie Kirk who were in Tempe for a political rally last week. pic.twitter.com/KKxn6eoxKy
Ashpes is facing the following misdemeanor charges: three counts of threatening to cause physical injury to another person and one count of using a phone to threaten or intimidate. Penalties for these charges range up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
Ashpes is not an Arizona native. According to his since-deleted Facebook profile, Ashpes was from Irvine, California, where he attended Arnold O. Beckman High School in Tustin, California. His profile mentioned that he also lived for a time in Portland, Oregon.
All of Ashpes’s other social media profiles — including Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn — were deleted, limiting access to an online footprint that may have provided further insight to Ashpes’s political beliefs.
Ashpes attended Northern Arizona University and was a student teacher at Flagstaff Unified School District.
Ashpes taught social studies at Desert Vista High School; he was hired in July.
On Wednesday, Desert Vista informed parents that Ashpes was placed on administrative leave over his arrest.
“We are writing to inform you that Mr. Daniel Ashpes, a social studies teacher at DV, has been placed on administrative leave while authorities conduct an investigation,” stated the school. “Yesterday, at 1:33 PM, we notified Mr. Ashpes’ students and their families of the situation, prior to any media reports. As this is an ongoing matter, our priority was to first inform those directly impacted before communicating with the wider Desert Vista community. While we are unable to provide details at this time, we are aware that the Tempe Police Department has filed charges related to alleged online threats. Please note that the Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) does not tolerate or condone any form of threats or harassment by employees or students.”
Donald Trump Jr.’s father, Donald Trump, has survived two assassination attempts this year: one in July and one in September.
In the July assassination attempt, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot a near-fatal bullet that grazed Trump’s ear at a Pennsylvania rally. The gunfire killed one, 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter and father Corey Comperatore, and injured seven others: 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver were shot and critically injured but recovered; the nephew of Congressman Ronny Jackson was grazed in the neck by a bullet but recovered; and four Pittsburgh Police officers were injured minorly by debris from objects hit by the gunfire.
The second assassination attempt occurred in September. The would-be assassin, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, never made it to the point where he fired off any shots at Trump. Routh had set up an AK-47 rifle, backpack, and Go-Pro camera along the fencing adjacent to the Trump International Golf Club course. Routh was spotted by the Secret Service about 400-500 yards from Trump while he was playing golf. The Secret Service then fired several rounds at Routh and caused him to flee.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
As the 2024 General Election entered its final weeks, the Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee, made two stops in the critical swing state of Arizona.
On Tuesday, Senator J.D. Vance, President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, visited Peoria and Tucson in an attempt to rally support for his ticket and to convince undecided voters to come over to the Republican side to return the 45th President to the White House.
While in Arizona, Vance said, “I got the easiest job in American politics. I get to go around and remind the American people that Donald Trump delivered rising take home pay and low inflation – Tim Walz has to go around and somehow convince the American people that Kamala Harris is going to solve the problems she has created.”
.@JDVance: "I got the easiest job in American politics. I get to go around and remind the American people that Donald Trump delivered rising take home pay and low inflation — Tim Walz has to go around and somehow convince the American people that Kamala Harris is going too solve… pic.twitter.com/F09WTO6b9I
Incoming U.S. Representative for Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District, Abraham Hamadeh, spoke at the Peoria event, saying, “We were placed at this moment for a reason. We really were. And I want every single one of you to understand that we’ve got 13, 14 days to save our great Republic, and it’s not just the United States of America we’re saving. We are saving civilization.”
“We were placed at this moment for a reason. We really were. And I want every single one of you to understand that we've got 13, 14 days to save our great Republic, and it's not just the United States of America we are saving. We are saving civilization.”
Senator Vance’s event in Peoria was hosted by TYR Tactical, which is owned by Jason Beck, who also serves as the city’s mayor. TYR Tactical, which is one of the top private employers in Peoria, has been home to a rising number of events and rallies over the past two political cycles. In an exclusive interview with AZ Free News, Mayor Beck commented about his willingness to open his place of business for Republican efforts, saying, “I am proud of our community, and of the people in Peoria. We are privileged to offer our facility and resources to support the people and causes we believe in.”
Beck was excited about the event and the support for the Trump-Vance ticket that he could see from his vantage point. He said, “Arizona has a lot of motivated voters who want to see Trump and Vance in the White House. We had an amazing turn-out of support from citizens who are excited about a future with President Trump and Vice President Vance. Senator Vance spoke about the importance of a thriving economy, the effects that inflation has on families, businesses, and our seniors. His message was clear. We need to invest in our country. We need to keep our enemies away from our borders, and we need to compassionately serve the everyday needs of American citizens.”
When asked why he was supporting the Trump-Vance ticket, Beck added, “The Trump-Vance ticket understands what it takes to make small businesses like mine, flourish. The Trump administrations’ tax credits allowed me to utilize R&D Tax credits to invest in our business and create jobs for the American worker. When our business grows, we are able to increase the amount of premium equipment we can provide to our law enforcement and military to ensure they are brought home safely. With business growth, we are able to provide more jobs for the people in our community.”
The first-term mayor also reflected on how his city is poised to work with a potential Trump-Vance administration, stating, “As the Mayor of Peoria, and as a job creator, I want to be a voice for everyone, not just the people who vote for me. I employ people of many different ethnic and faith backgrounds. Democrats often say they care about diverse and underserved communities, but it is the policies from the first Trump term that helped create opportunities and jobs for them. Trump-Vance give us the best opportunity to protect our country and bring the next phase of positive economic growth to lead America into its next phase of greatness and prosperity.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Surprise Police Chief Benny Piña has found himself once again taking wide criticism stemming from the arrest of a mother who defied the city council while exercising her First Amendment rights. Along with the initial arrest, the Chief is now at the center of a firestorm after an internal department video from a week after the incident was obtained by KFYI’s James T. Harris. The video features Piña giving officers “a few things to avoid when confronted by a 1st Amendment auditor,” and defending the woman’s arrest.
Rebekah Massie, a mother from Surprise, was arrested in front of her 10-year-old daughter after criticizing the Surprise City Attorney Robert Wingo in August in a now-viral video. Massie and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) subsequently sued the city, and the council eventually reversed the policy that led to her arrest.
In the Surprise Police Department video created a week later, Piña is seen telling officers, “What happened last week in a council meeting resulted in what I think everybody in the world is calling an illegal arrest and a violation of someone’s First Amendment rights. That’s clearly not what we’re about, and that’s not what happened.”
Curiously, the Chief advised officers not to be completely open or truthful to what he called “First Amendment Auditors.” “[There are a] few things to avoid when confronted by a First Amendment auditor,” Piña said.
Piña introduced Sgt. Jamie Rothschild and suggested that the criticisms against him and the department are the work of “trolls and bots.” He responded to calls to fire Steve Shernicoff, the arresting officer.
The Chief told officers, “We took action that night to complete what we normally would do which is a use of force report. We took real quick action to make certain that we were in line with what our policy is and what our philosophy is, which is to take next steps to make certain that we were in a position of power to show that we, specifically Officer Shernicoff, acted with absolute speed to carry out the mission as directed that evening.”
He added, “When something doesn’t look right, or something doesn’t look popular, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
Footage of the meeting and of Massie being led out as her child cried quickly went viral within days of the arrest. Bodycam footage was later released by Surprise PD.
The footage shows that Piña was present during the arrest and did not intervene. Massie was charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, and obstructing government operations. Following the uproar in response to the incident, State Senator John Kavanaugh publicly called for Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate the arrest.
“In Arizona statutes, we have a provision that specifically says, ‘[a] public body may make an open call to the public during a public meeting, subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, to allow individuals to address the public body on any issue within the jurisdiction of the public body,’” said Kavanagh.
“Protecting freedom of speech, especially in public government settings, is incredibly important to our democracy. Regardless of where they stand, members of the public deserve the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns to city leaders.”
AZ Free News has reached out to Massie via her representation from FIRE for comment. As of this report no response has been received.
While the Biden-Harris administration is still boasting of the success of the CHIPS and Science Act, the Intel Corp. announced it will cut 15,000 jobs across the nation, “as part of the broad-based cost savings plan.” New reports show that almost four hundred of those job cuts will be at the company’s Ocotillo campus in Chandler.
As reported by Phoenix Business Journal, the series of layoff has come despite an upcoming injection of billions of taxpayer dollars via the CHIPS Act aimed at expanding the Chandler facility. Intel as a whole has approximately 12,000 employees in Arizona.
In a written statement Intel explained, “As part of the broad-based cost savings plan we announced in August, we are making the hard but necessary decisions to reduce the size of our workforce. These are the most difficult decisions we ever make, and we are treating people with care and respect. These changes support our strategy to become a leaner, simpler and more agile company as we position Intel for long-term sustainable growth.”
According to The Center Square, the office of Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs was quick to announce the mobilization of state taxpayer-funded resources being made available to the laid off Intel workers.
Spokesman Christian Slater told the outlet, “The Governor’s Office is already mobilizing rapid response resources at DES to connect affected workers with the resources they need to receive support and find new employment. Ensuring that every Arizonan has access to good-paying jobs is a top priority for Governor Hobbs, and she will continue bringing together workers and businesses to navigate challenges, create jobs and build an economy that helps every Arizonan thrive.”
The company was recently granted up to $8.5 billion in CHIPS Act funding, leading to scrutiny over their 15k global layoffs.
I've been asking AZ politicians about this, given that AZ was one of the four states to which the money was allocated for Intel.https://t.co/m2sIsRzW1i
In an August statement, Hobbs stressed Intel’s expansion in the state after the non-specific “cost savings plan,” was announced saying, “They’re expanding here. We’re thrilled to have their expansion here. We’re working with them on workforce initiatives to grow the skilled pipeline of workers that they need. We’re continuing to do that.”
Any direct mention of the billions of dollars earmarked for Intel via the CHIPS Act was decidedly absent from the Hobbs administration’s statement. However, a statement from the office of Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) doubled down on the multi-billion-dollar giveaway, which failed to prevent the layoffs.
Kelly’s office wrote that the round of layoffs, “further underscores the importance of the CHIPS Act.” His office added, “American companies like Intel are facing unprecedented competition from China, but thanks to the CHIPS Act, we’re making sure Intel, and other companies can manufacture the most advanced chips right here in America—creating thousands of construction jobs, and generating even more good-paying, permanent technician jobs in Chandler and across the state that don’t require a four-year degree.”
As reported by the New York Post in August, despite the passage of the CHIPS Act, Intel suffered a staggering $1.6 billion in losses, with CEO Pat Gelsinger saying, “Simply put, we must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate,” per the memo published to the firm’s website. “Our revenues have not grown as expected – and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low.”
When the initial announcement broke in August, Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake placed the blame for Intel’s problems squarely on the Biden-Harris administration in a post to X, writing, “For over 45 years, Arizona has been Intel’s U.S. manufacturing powerhouse. In the last job reports, Intel Shares plunged 20%, forcing them to lay off more than 15% of their employees. These are the devastating consequences #Bidenomics is having on our state. In the US Senate, I will work with President Trump to cut the deficit, turbocharge the economy, & bring back good jobs so that all companies both big & small can thrive in State 48.”
For over 45 years, Arizona has been Intel’s U.S. manufacturing powerhouse.
In the last job reports, Intel Shares plunged 20%, forcing them to lay off more than 15% of their employees.
These are the devastating consequences #Bidenomics is having on our state.
Intel’s CEO also noted that staff drawdowns through voluntary exits in September via “early retirement and separation offerings,” already had the company almost halfway to its 15k downsizing goal. But Gelsinger warned at the time, “We still have difficult decisions to make and will notify impacted employees in the middle of October.”
Democratic Candidate for Congressional District 1 Amish Shah has found himself facing demands from the Tempe City Attorney.
According to the Arizona Agenda, Tempe City Attorney Eric Anderson contacted the Shah campaign and ordered the candidate to cease using a mailer that depicts a retired Tempe Police officer in full uniform including his sidearm. The advertisement shows Shah speaking with the officer and claiming he “stood up to his own party to crack down on fentanyl trafficking” or that he “voted to increase funding for border security,” forwarding a narrative that he is at least pro-law and order if not pro-law enforcement.
The ad naturally came to the attention of incumbent Republican Congressman David Schweikert who forwarded it to the city attorney. The mailer appears to be in violation of Arizona law A.R.S. 9-500.14, which forbids the use of city resources to influence an election, including: “monies, accounts, credit, facilities, vehicles, postage, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, web pages, personnel, equipment, materials, buildings or any other thing of value of the city or town.” In this case, the city’s logo represents a “thing of value.” Anderson also confirmed to the outlet that city policy also forbids the practice.
“Accordingly, my office has directed correspondence to both the former officer as well as Dr. Shah’s campaign demanding that any such use be discontinued,” he wrote, adding that if the Schweikert campaign sees him use it again, they should tell the city “so further action can be considered.”
It’s not uncommon for politicians to pose with police. 🚔📸
But the cops aren’t usually dressed in uniform, complete with gun. 🔫👮♂️
As of this report, the advertisements haven’t stopped. Schweikert campaign consultant Chris Baker told the Arizona Agenda that one more mailer hit homes just a day after the letter from the city attorney, which could have already been in process. But a few days later, another was deployed, leading the campaign to alert the city.
Responding to the allegations, Shah told the outlet that he passed the city’s letter on to his attorney and if his campaign had indeed violated the law, he would update the ad. He did note though that his team had contracted with a major national firm for the mailers and were told by both the company and the retired officer that use of the photo was “kosher.”
Shah told the outlet, “We’re checking with our team and our lawyers to see if what they allege to be a violation, was indeed a violation. And if we are found to be out of compliance, then we will take corrective action, meaning, blur it out.”
National Republican Congressional Committee Spokesperson Ben Petersen reacted in a statement saying, “Lawbreaking liberal Amish Shah thinks he’s above the rules and will do anything for power. Shah shamelessly doubling down on his illegal behavior despite being warned shows his contempt for the rule of law.”
In a post to X, Petersen even noted, “Let’s not forget Shah clearly forgot Tempe is not even in #AZ01.”
According to the law, “For each violation of this section, the court may impose a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars plus any amount of misused funds subtracted from the city or town budget against a person who knowingly violates or aids another person in violating this section.”
The McCain Institute played host to several “disinformation experts” in Phoenix last week, where they discussed how best to control free speech online.
These experts, Bret Schafer and Rachael Dean Wilson, hail from Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund.
Schafer created and manages Hamilton 2.0, an online open-source dashboard tracking the outputs of Russia, Chinese, and Iranian state media outlets, diplomats, and government officials. Wilson was the communications director and advisor to the late John McCain.
Schafer’s Hamilton 2.0 is a continuation of his original project within Alliance For Securing Democracy, Hamilton 68, which culled data from major social media companies to identify content similarities between foreign adversaries and Americans — X when it was “Twitter” prior to Elon Musk’s buyout, Facebook, and Instagram — shortly after Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017. Musk paywalled X’s application programming interface, stymieing Schafer’s data stream.
Schafer was part of investigations into practices by social media companies that were weaponizing the government against right-wing citizens.
During last Thursday’s panel, Schafer said that an individual from Meta (Facebook) told him that they began to implement more “guardrails” following the Christchurch shooting, since the shooter used the company’s live-stream function, “Facebook Live,” to film and publish the attack. Schafer said that artificial intelligence (AI) was the “reverse” of efforts to implement guardrails, and expressed concern that there should be greater limitations on “problematic” online speech.
“I think the concern is this pollution in the information space, so if somebody has a narrative that’s particularly problematic it now seems as if it’s coming from 50, 100, 200,000 different sources and it can kind of drown out competing voices who are not using manipulated information to get their message out,” said Schafer.
Schafer advocated for social media companies to reduce the spread of content not originating from certain officials or media outlets. He recalled how those technology companies did some of this during the 2020 election. Schafer lamented that public perception of social media companies controlling content reach and visibility became “politicized” and controversial.
“The only way to make sure the people who genuinely want to actually access accurate information […] is for [social media companies] to make some decisions about what is and is not quality information,” said Schafer. “That has become politicized in ways that I think are really problematic so I think we do need to pressure the companies to the various mechanisms we can: advertisers, everything else to ensure at least around elections that they are taking an active role in making decisions about what should be prioritized because if it’s just left up to the algorithms we’re not going to see the good information surface at the top.”
Wilson agreed. She added that officials could rely on online influencers to spread their information. Combined with Schafer’s proposal of increasing and prioritizing reach for certain information from certain officials and experts, that may mean influencers would be incentivized to spread certain information in order to increase their visibility, engagement, and monetization.
“I think getting the influencers to encourage referencing experts is really important,” said Wilson.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes also participated in the panel discussions.
Like the Hamilton initiative, the Alliance for Securing Democracy was founded after Trump took the White House. The organization is led by Laura Thornton, whom the McCain Institute hired in August to serve as senior director of global democracy programs.
Among its team members are David Salvo, former Obama administration foreign service officer within the State Department, and Shanthi Kalathil, former deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for democracy and human rights at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
Alliance for Securing Democracy used to publicize its list of advisory members until some time late last year or earlier this year.
Mike Cherthoff, formerly the W. Bush administration Homeland Security Secretary;
Toomas Ilves, formerly the Estonia president and a World Economic Forum co-chair;
David Kramer, formerly a McCain Institute senior director and W. Bush administration State Department official;
Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and former staffer for the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations;
Rick Ledgett, formerly the Obama administration NSA deputy director;
Mike McFaul, formerly the Obama administration ambassador to Russia;
Michael Morelll, formerly the Obama administration CIA acting director;
Ana Palacio, lawyer and formerly European Parliament member;
John Podesta, formerly Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair and an official for both the Clinton and Obama administrations.
Mike Rogers, CNN commentator and formerly a GOP congressman, army officer, FBI special agent;
Marietje Schaake, formerly a European Parliament member;
Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute director and formerly employed by the State Department, Defense Department, and White House National Security Council; and,
Nicole Wong, formerly the Obama administration deputy chief technology officer, Google vice president and deputy general counsel, and Twitter legal director for products.
This week, the McCain Institute announced it had been accepted to be featured in the competitive annual event, South by Southwest.
Last week’s full panel is available here:
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