In a January 26, 2026, letter, the Arizona Sheriffs’ Association blasted AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes’ (D) statements that seemed to indicate the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law might provide legal justification for shooting ICE agents.

Mayes made her comments in an interview posted by 12 News NBC, where she focused on Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law, noting that it is one of the most expansive such laws in the country.

She said:

You have these masked federal officers with very little identification — sometimes no identification — wearing plain clothes and masks, and we have a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law that says if you reasonably believe your life is in danger and you’re in your house or in your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.

Mayes added, “It’s a fact that we have a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law and, in other states, un-uniformed, masked people who can’t be identified as police officers.”

The Arizona Police Association has since denounced the comments as “reckless” and Arizona Senate Majority Leader John Kavanaugh (R) has called for Mayes to “step down in disgrace.”

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R) told Breitbart News that Mayes’ comments amount to “fantasizing about violent radicals shooting ICE agents.”

Now the Arizona Sheriffs’ Association is blasting Mayes’ “lack of understanding of state law–or much worse, a willful and reckless interpretation of the law.”

In a January 26, 2026, open letter, the Arizona Sheriffs’ Association made clear, “The Attorney General does not speak for Arizona law enforcement” and warned that her “rhetoric risks being … misused in ways that could endanger all law enforcement.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.