Grijalva Closes Offices After Death Threats
Updated: 6:08 p.m.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) closed two of his district offices on Friday after receiving death threats, his spokesman said.
“The same person called the Tucson office twice threatening to come in there and blow everyone’s head off,'” Grijalva spokesman Adam Sarvana said. “He said he’d then go to the border and shoot any Mexicans that tried to come across.”
Police were called to the office, and Grijalva closed his offices in Tucson and Yuma as a precaution. The offices are expected to reopen Monday.
Grijalva has proposed a boycott of Arizona over a bill that would require local police to arrest suspected illegal immigrants.
Fellow Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whose Tucson office window was broken with a brick during the health care reform debate, said in a statement that she is “deeply troubled” by the threats to Grijalva and that “such acts only make it more difficult for us to resolve our differences.”
“I have said that I strongly disagree with Congressman Grijalva’s call for a boycott of Arizona businesses. I believe that a boycott would hurt Arizona’s families and businesses at a time when our state’s economy is taking the first steps toward recovery after a devastating recession,” she said. “However, resorting to vandalism and threats to express political viewpoints is unacceptable. We must work together as a nation to enforce federal immigration laws and strengthen border security.”
Daniel Newhauser contributed to this report.