Arizona Senate Republicans Condemn Violent Anti-ICE Riots

Arizona Senate Republicans Condemn Violent Anti-ICE Riots

by | Jun 10, 2025 | News

By Matthew Holloway |

Arizona’s Republican Senate leadership issued a sharp condemnation of the violent anti-immigration enforcement riots, still raging in Los Angeles in a Monday press release. They also issued a direct call for Arizona’s Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes to “cooperate with the Trump Administration with enforcing federal immigration laws to keep Arizona communities safe from harm.”

According to Fox10 Phoenix, an anti-ICE protest took place in Phoenix near the Capitol building, but despite claiming to stand “in solidarity” with the violent rioters in LA, remained largely peaceful.

Senate President Warren Petersen said in the statement, “What’s unfolding in California under their radical leftist government is an atrocity. These are not protests. These are violent riots being carried out by criminal thugs with no regard for public safety. If protests here in Arizona escalate to rioting, the Hobbs Administration and Attorney General Mayes must be prepared to take action. I am calling on the governor and the attorney general to honor the oath of office they swore to uphold by cooperating with the Trump Administration on enforcement of federal immigration laws, deportations of criminal illegal aliens, and to hold accountable those who violate state laws when demonstrations spiral out of control.”

“Complete and total chaos is ensuing in California, and Democrat elected officials, including Arizona’s own Governor Hobbs, are banding together in support of this violence,” said President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope. “It is maddening that Hobbs would sign onto a letter from California’s Gruesome Newsom speaking out against President Trump for deploying the National Guard to protect American citizens from harm. Newsflash, Governor Hobbs- it’s not ‘an alarming abuse of power’ for a president to take this action to stop violent rioters. Federal law allows it.”

“Californians have found themselves in the middle of a warzone. I’m grateful the Trump Administration has mobilized the national guard, as well as marines, to stop the riots and restore order so that ICE agents can do their jobs,” said Senate Majority Whip Frank Carroll. “Anyone who harms our citizens, our law enforcement, or our military must be held accountable under the full force of the law. Arizona Senate Republicans stand with police officers, ICE agents, and our military members to ensure this violence does not spread across state lines or develop within Arizona.”

Responding to the Phoenix protest, a Phoenix Police spokesman said, “The Phoenix Police Department became aware of a group of individuals expressing their views near 10th Avenue and Van Buren this evening around 6:00 p.m. The group marched through portions of the downtown area and ultimately returned to where it began on Van Buren Street. Phoenix Police Officers along with Department of Public Safety Troopers were present and closed down streets after it was observed the group was walking in the roadway. Our duty continues to be ensuring the safety of all involved while treating everyone with dignity and respect.”

Rioting in Los Angeles, which began near the ICE detention center downtown and the Paramount neighborhood, escalated since Friday with numerous law enforcement vehicles damaged, officers injured, and several Waymo autonomous vehicles burned leading to the deployment of 2,000 National Guard Troops to protect federal property and personnel. By Monday, the deployment has ramped up to 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 United States Marines from nearby Camp Pendelton over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom, Hobbs, and other Democrat politicians who called the deployment “ineffective and dangerous.”

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

Governor Hobbs Issues Support Of Anti-Deportation Rioters

Governor Hobbs Issues Support Of Anti-Deportation Rioters

by | Jun 9, 2025 | News

By Staff Reporter |

Governor Katie Hobbs came out in support of the anti-deportation rioters that took to the streets in Los Angeles, California, over the weekend. 

Hobbs signed onto a statement with California Governor Gavin Newsom and all other Democratic governors in the country opposing President Donald Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard to stop the Los Angeles riots as “an alarming abuse of power […] ineffective and dangerous.”

The joint statement also demonized Trump for promising to send Marines into neighborhoods to keep the peace. 

“Further, threatening to send the U.S. Marines into American neighborhoods undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement,” stated Hobbs and the Democratic governors. “It’s important we respect the executive authority of our country’s  governors to manage their National Guards — and we stand with Governor Newsom who has made it clear that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation.”

Trump said border czar Tom Homan should arrest Newsom on Monday after returning to the White House from Camp David, calling the governor “ a nice guy [but] grossly incompetent.” 

On Saturday, the president issued a proclamation calling federal service members and National Guard units to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal personnel enforcing immigration law from ongoing anti-deportation protests. The president’s deployment of 2,000 troops was in response to protests triggered by federal immigration raids in California. 300 National Guard members deployed to Los Angeles.

While the exact number of arrests in the Los Angeles riots remains unknown, reports from the New York Times and NBC News indicate well over 150 were arrested in total from Friday throughout the weekend. 

Hobbs has consistently been against immigration enforcement. The governor demanded answers from the Department of Homeland Security after ICE detained illegal immigrants attending immigration hearings in Phoenix last month. Hobbs said those who migrated illegally weren’t “criminals” and shouldn’t be detained.

“We need to prioritize efforts to deport criminals and secure the border,” said Hobbs. “Indiscriminately rounding up people following the rules won’t make us safer.”

Protesters also took to the streets in Phoenix on Sunday, though Fox News reporters on the ground for this protest indicated it remained peaceful.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized the Phoenix protest. In a statement to social media, PSL called for an end to immigration enforcement efforts and the release of one Phoenix-area illegal immigrant, Joel Gutierrez. 

“Hundreds of Arizonans are in the streets to demand an END to the racist ICE raids and the release of Joel Gutierrez, a father who was detained this past week,” stated PSL. 

As of this report, Gutierrez’s family has raised nearly $4,300 of the $15,000 goal on GoFundMe for lawyer’s fees and living expenses. ICE detained Gutierrez on his way to work, an outcome his family implies was not due to his choice to immigrate to the U.S. illegally but being “at the wrong place at the wrong time.” His family claims Gutierrez is their sole provider. 

PSL — which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party — has consistently organized its protests to appear around coordinated ICE detainments. They and other leftist groups have taken to the streets multiple times this year to protest Trump’s immigration enforcement.

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