Arizona’s top prosecutor tells 12News she is investigating whether Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump violated state law by making a “death threat” against former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney during remarks Thursday night at an event in Glendale.
“I have already asked my criminal division chief to start looking at that statement, analyzing it for whether it qualifies as a death threat under Arizona’s laws,” Attorney General Mayes, a first-term Democrat, said during Friday’s taping of “Sunday Square Off.”
“I’m not prepared now to say whether it was or it wasn’t, but it is not helpful as we prepare for our election and as we try to make sure that we keep the peace at our polling places and in our state.”
Trump was interviewed Friday night by former Fox TV host Tucker Carlson at an arena event in Glendale. Here’s what Trump said:
“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
The “nine barrels” comment has been interpreted as suggest Cheney could face a firing squad.
“This is how dictators destroy free nations,” Cheney said Friday in a statement on social media. “They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”
Under Arizona law, threatening or intimidating a person is illegal. It can be charged as a Class 1 misdemeanor or Class 6 felony.
12 News has requested a response from the Trump campaign regarding Mayes’ investigation.
According to the Washington Post, a Trump campaign spokeswoman defended his remarks.
