‘Until people like this… are tried, convicted and hanged’: Arizona lawmaker threatens Democrats with execution over nonviolent protests

GOP Arizona State Representative John Gillette is facing serious backlash after he went on social media and literally called for the execution of a Democratic congresswoman. Gillette, who has been openly supportive of the January 6 insurrectionists, reacted to a video clip by demanding the execution of U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal.

Gillette’s comment, which was on X (formerly Twitter) and first reported by the Arizona Mirror, was a direct reaction to a short clip from a YouTube video Jayapal released back in March, which was entitled “The Resistance Lab”. In the video, Jayapal, a long-time Democratic congresswoman representing Washington state, was discussing how to prepare for street protests against the Trump administration.

I would say the biggest problem with what Gillette did was the completely over-the-top, hateful, and outright dangerous response. He literally called for her to be executed, saying, “Until people like this… are tried, convicted and hanged”. This is not some anonymous troll on the internet; this is a sitting state representative in Arizona publicly calling for a U.S. Congresswoman to be killed because she was discussing how to organize a protest.

Calling for executions over words is over-the-top

The whole thing is just awful for anyone who believes in civil discourse, a practice that’s been around since the beginning of modern politics. While politicians have always been hard on their rivals, this new level of rhetoric hurts the entire political system and creates an environment where violence seems acceptable.

Moving forward, this type of open, violent threat from an elected official is extremely worrying. You can expect a conversation about what consequences, if any, Gillette will face for essentially threatening a rival with death. His open support for the January 6th insurrectionists already showed where he stands, but this takes things to an entirely new and dangerous level.

The issue is how comments like this affect the real world. When someone in power calls for the execution of a political rival, it absolutely creates a dangerous environment. This is awful for anyone in politics, as the threat of violence is now openly being encouraged by an elected official.