A legal verdict for a case with national attention earned responses from some Arizona officials.
Last week, the trial for Laken Riley’s murderer concluded, with a guilty verdict and the sentence imposed. Riley, a young nursing student, rose to national prominence posthumously, after she was horrifically and tragically killed by an illegal immigrant on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp reacted to the news, writing, “Justice for Laken! I still don’t have the words to describe how sickened I’ve been following this trial, but the monster who killed her will now forever be behind bars! My heart hurts for Laken Riley’s family as there isn’t a verdict or sentence that will take away their pain and heartache.”
Justice for Laken! I still don't have the words to describe how sickened I've been following this trial, but the monster who killed her will now forever be behind bars!
My heart hurts for Laken Riley's family, as there isn't a verdict or sentence that will take away their pain…
Shamp added, “Criminals and murderers don’t have a place in our country, and I pray no other family ever has to endure this type of horrific tragedy again. President Trump’s inauguration cannot come soon enough!”
In an exclusive comment to AZ Free News, Senate President Warren Petersen said, “While Laken Riley’s family received justice, they will forever live with this heartbreaking and senseless loss because the United States federal government failed to enforce the law and protect our citizens. We must do everything in our power to secure the border and remove these criminals from our communities to prevent similar heinous attacks from threatening innocent American lives. I’m confident President Trump and his Administration will do just that, and the Republican-led Arizona Legislature stands ready to help in this critical endeavor.”
State Senator Shawnna Bolick told AZ Free News that, “Far too often we have seen countless issues stem from illegal immigration, including the senseless murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Throughout the investigation it was apparent no verdict could ease the pain of the community or the heartbreak felt by her loved ones from this tragic incident. While last week’s verdict closes the chapter of Laken’s death, another angel family has sadly been born. No parent should have to endure the loss of a child.”
Republican State Representative Travis Grantham said, “I’m glad the murderer has been convicted but he never should have been here to begin with. The entire Biden administration has her blood on their hands. What happened to her is a disgrace.”
President-Elect Donald J. Trump, who has promised to renew his efforts to secure the border when his second term in the White House begins in January, also responded to the verdict, saying, “JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have. We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!”
Most – if not all – of the reactions for this verdict from Arizona public officials appeared to be from Republicans, with Democrats remaining silent in the aftermath of this case.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Starmer’s remarks came as he disembarked from a carbon-spewing jet upon arrival in Azerbaijan to attend the UN-sponsored COP29 climate conference.
The annual COP conferences, remember, are where the world’s elites gather each year to discuss ways to leverage climate-alarm dogma as a means of destroying western democracy and trapping the world’s masses in energy poverty while they consume $1,000 Wagyu steaks and $2,000 bottles of wine over dinner.
“I have repeatedly emphasized the importance of global leadership when it comes to the climate challenge,” said Starmer, “and therefore it is very important for me to come to COP… I see the climate challenge as a huge opportunity for the UK if we get it right, and that is why we have made it one of our missions to have clean power by 2030.”
Among the means Starmer’s government is using to show “global leadership” on the climate alarm front is to provide heavy subsidies for costly, low-efficiency offshore wind farms and cover up vast swaths of the UK’s farmlands and countryside with enormous solar arrays. Starmer’s government has simultaneously presided over the closing of the UK’s last remaining coal power plant and one of its last steelmaking factories as part of what appears to be a focused effort to deindustrialize its once-powerful economy.
Trump has made it crystal clear that his approach to energy policy will be diametrically opposite that of Starmer’s Labor government. Trump has already said he plans to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate agreement again, an action he took during his first term, but which was reversed by President Joe Biden.
Trump has also laid out plans to re-industrialize America’s economy with a carrot-and-stick approach that will include incentives for companies building new factories and assembly plants in the United States and imposing tariffs on those who choose to invest in capacity overseas. In a recent pre-election interview, Trump detailed plans to address instability and capacity shortages on the U.S. electric grid by implementing policies to speed up permitting and building of new natural gas and nuclear power generation.
“We have to produce massive electricity that we don’t have. But the environmental impact statements won’t allow us to do that. The rules and regulations that we currently have won’t allow us to do any of it,” Trump said. “But if I’m president, we’ll be able to do it and we’ll do it through natural gas, which is clean. And we’ll do it through primarily natural gas and nuclear.”
While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to bring back his first-term policies designed to stimulate the domestic oil-and-gas industry and return the United States to the position of “energy dominance” it enjoyed under his previous administration.
In kicking off the COP29 festivities, Azerbaijan leader Ilham Aliyev created a stir among the climate zealots who make up the preponderance of attendees by appearing to endorse the Trump approach.
Referring to oil and natural gas as a “gift of God,” the Azerbaijani President said, “Countries should not be blamed for having them and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market because the market needs them. The people need them.”
At another point, Aliyev appeared to lecture western elitists like Starmer, saying: “Unfortunately double standards, a habit to lecture other countries and political hypocrisy became kind of modus operandi for some politicians, state-controlled NGOs and fake news media in some Western countries.”
In an interview at the summit, Starmer displayed a shocking lack of self-awareness by claiming his government has no plans to “start telling people how to live their lives. We are not going to start dictating to people what they do.”
That is of course exactly what Starmer is doing, and exactly the sort of thing Trump plans to avoid doing regardless of any demands from the globalist climate-alarm industry. Americans stand to be the main beneficiaries from the contrast in policy approach.
David Blackmon is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation, an energy writer, and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs promised a “major announcement,” leading up to a Monday press conference at the Port of Nogales on the state’s southern border with Mexico. And indeed, the border press event did highlight “Task Force SAFE,” a joint military-U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation deploying Arizona National Guardsmen to aid in intercepting drug smuggling. However, Hobbs also told reporters that Phoenix would not tolerate what she called Trump’s “misguided policies,” namely his promise of mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
As reported by 12News, Hobbs told reporters, “I will work with the administration when it benefits Arizonans and if I need to stand up to them because their actions will harm Arizonans, I will do that.”
She continued targeting Trump’s deportation vow, specifically saying, “We don’t know what a mass deportation plan will look like, what resources will be involved. I’m here to protect Arizonans, and I will do that.”
When asked if she would allow state law enforcement to participate in any mass-deportation action, Hobbs told ABC News, “We will not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities. And I’ve been incredibly clear about that.”
JUST IN: Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs bumbles through interview, says she will not let the Trump administration deport illegal aliens in Arizona.
Hobbs added, “Those efforts are going to divert needed resources that we need here on these drug interdiction, and smuggling and trafficking efforts to keep harm out of our communities. We need those resources here. And coming here today and seeing this operation firsthand just underscores that. That working in partnership here is how we can best secure the border.”
When asked what worries her about mass deportation, Hobbs told ABC, “I think the diversion of law enforcement from the work that they do everyday to keep our communities safe, people hiding in fear, we saw that under previous state policies here and it harms communities. It tears families apart. And that’s not going to happen on my watch.”
Despite reports that Hobbs is seeking to clothe herself in the garb of a moderate, noting her refusal to join the “Governors Safeguarding Democracy” (GSD) with fellow Democrat governors J.B. Pritzker (Illinois) and Jared Polis (Colorado), Hobbs recently described the legislature she has to work with as “run by literal insurrectionists and indicted fake electors,” who send her “garbage,” prompting a record shattering 216 vetoes.
According to AZCentral, Hobbs replied to calls to join the GSD saying, “I don’t think that’s the most productive way to govern Arizona. As governor, I have and will continue to stand up against actions that hurt our communities. But I will work with anyone who is doing what is right for Arizona.” Some have taken that as an indication of her willingness to work with the incoming Trump administration and the now-overwhelmingly Republican-controlled Congress.
Hobbs’ commentary from Nogales would seem to put Arizona Democrats’ concerns of the governor potentially moderating her stance against the core policies of the GOP to rest. But should 2024 electoral trends carry through to 2026, it could foreclose on the possibility of her re-election.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen has chosen to recuse himself from the alternate electors case after reports revealed a series of emails he sent to his colleagues that openly defended Vice President Kamala Harris and urged other jurists to do likewise.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, the controversy that preceded Cohen’s recusal centered around a series of emails in which he demanded that his fellow judges and commissioners stand in defense of then-Democratic Presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. The Judge offered these emails in response to criticisms levied against Harris that she was a “DEI Hire.” Cohen particularly characterized the issue in racial and gender-based terms calling upon white men in particular to defend Harris, along with any colleagues who identified as “person(s) of color.”
Cohen wrote in part, “It does matter if your chromosomes are made up of ‘XY.’ It matters even more if your skin color is characterized as ‘white’ or Caucasian. We must speak out. We must tell those within our circles of influence that this s**t must stop. NOW! We cannot allow our female colleagues to feel as if they stand alone when there are those who may intimate that their ascension was anything other than based upon exceptionalism. We cannot allow our colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’ to stand alone when there are those may claim that their ascension was an ‘equity hire’ rather than based solely upon exceptionalism. We no longer can stay silent merely because others are exercising their right to free speech — we, too, have that same right and must exercise it.”
Attorneys representing Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, a defendant alongside several other prominent Republican figures facing charges for their participation in an alternate slate of Electoral College votes during the 2020 Presidential Election, told the Associated Press that Judge Cohen “bears a deep-seated personal political bias that overcame his professional judgment.”
Arizona attorney Mark L. Williams, who represents former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told the AP, “Given the statements the judge made, I think it’s appropriate that he recuse himself.”
He added, “The way I see it, the case against Mr. Giuliani and the other defendants is falling apart and I think the attorney general should just wind down the case and dismiss it.”
Michael Colombo of Dhillon law group, writing on Hoffman’s behalf in a motion for recusal, explained, “The utter contempt Judge Cohen displayed against President Trump in his Aug. 29 email makes it clear that Senator Hoffman — who is on trial for exercising his First Amendment rights as a supporter of President Trump — cannot receive a fair trial before Judge Cohen.”
Columbo also took aim at Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes writing, “While Judge Cohen is entitled to his political opinions and speech, his rhetoric and exhortation precisely mirrors the evidence of hostile partisan political zealotry at the heart of the motions to dismiss that have been languishing before the Court for months. In short, the evidence before the Court of the Attorney General’s unlawful retaliation against Defendants includes her demonization of Republicans as well as her Chief Deputy comparing Republicans to Nazis and the Defendants in this case to Vladimir Putin.”
He added, “Even if Judge Cohen can somehow separate his apparent detestation of President Trump from his adjudication of a case that centers around defendants’ political activity in support of President Trump, the appearance of impropriety is a stain on this case that cannot be removed.”
Cohen, scheduled to retire in January, defended his actions in the text of his order, and even doubled down claiming, “This judicial officer expressed in an email support for the exceptionalism of the judicial officers of Maricopa County and was a stand for decency and respect. What was contained in the email is not reflective of bias.”
Per Courthouse News, all scheduled hearings are now vacated and the case is on hold pending the assignment of a new judge.
The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) indicated that top Democratic leaders were to blame for their party’s massive election losses at the state and federal levels.
In a statement from Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (ADLCC) reposted by ADP, executive director Elsa O’Callaghan said that “down-the-ballot Democrats” in Arizona and across the nation were unable to overcome “top-of-the-ticket” troubles. O’Callaghan didn’t specify what those troubles were or who was behind them.
“We are deeply grateful for the candidates who put their lives on hold and stepped up to run, the staff who gave it their all, and the supporters who donated their time and money to protect Arizona’s future. Final results are now tallied and Arizona’s legislative chambers will remain in Republican control. Across the country, down-ballot Democrats worked tirelessly to combat top-of-the-ticket trends. It is now clear that those trends proved to be insurmountable. Too much is at stake to abandon our mission — especially with an extreme presidential administration coming into power. The work continues.”
🚨 The AZ Dem finger pointing is officially getting started! In a pathetic statement that was reposted by @AZDemParty, @A_DLCC blames the “top of the ticket” for their failures in AZ… but which “top of the ticket” are they referring to? @KamalaForAZ or @KatieHobbs? Or BOTH? pic.twitter.com/YKXsO1Jbsb
Donald Trump won Arizona by over 52 percent of the vote (1.7 million votes), where Kamala Harris gained over 46 percent of the vote (1.5 million votes) — a difference of nearly 187,000 votes among 3.2 million voters. Comparatively, Joe Biden won by .3 percent of the vote back in 2020, a difference of just over 10,400 votes among 3.3 million voters.
Arizona Republicans flipped a net total of three seats in the state legislature: one in the senate and three in the house (and the loss of one other seat). That grew the Republican majority to 17 in the Senate and 33 in the House.
In the Senate, Republicans flipped one seat: LD4, with Republican challenger Carine Werner ousting incumbent Democrat Christine Marsh by 52 percent of the vote (over 5,400 votes).
In the House, Republicans flipped three seats: LD4, with Republicans Pamela Carter and Matt Gress securing both seats; LD13, with Republicans Jeff Weninger and Julie Willoughby securing both seats; LD16, with Republicans Teresa Martinez and Chris Lopez securing both seats.
Democrats flipped one seat in the House: LD17, ousting Republican Cory McGarr for Democrat Kevin Volk while Rachel Jones retained her seat.
Arizona Democrats failed to flip any congressional seats. They also failed to win the hotly-contested District 6 seat held by incumbent Juan Ciscomani.
Democrats did successfully win the open Senate seat left by independent Kyrsten Sinema. Democrat Ruben Gallego emerged victorious over Republican Kari Lake, winning 50 percent of the vote over Lake’s 47 percent.
Although Democrats fell short of securing the Arizona legislature, they did see a certain win with a significant ballot reform.
Arizonans approved a constitutional right to abortion up to birth: 62 percent were in favor (1.9 million voters) versus 38 percent against (1.2 million voters).
However, Arizonans also approved a ballot measure to allow police to arrest illegal immigrants entering the U.S — 63 percent (1.9 million) were in favor, while 37 percent (1.1 million) were against.
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