Arrest made in connection to burglary of Arizona gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ campaign HQ
(CNN) - An arrest has been made in connection to a burglary of Democratic Arizona gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs' campaign headquarters, Phoenix Police announced on Twitter Thursday.
Phoenix Police said an arrest was made in regard to a burglary at the address of the headquarters, and the Hobbs campaign confirmed to CNN that the arrest referred to the incident, which was reported on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities did not immediately provide any additional information, including the suspect's identity or a potential motive, and said additional details would be released later on Thursday.
Police earlier said in a statement that "items were taken from the property sometime during the night."
A source within the Hobbs campaign told CNN that CCTV video shows the man they say broke into the campaign headquarters. The Hobbs campaign hasn't been able to get a full inventory of what was taken, the source added.
Nicole DeMont, who manages Hobbs' gubernatorial campaign, told CNN in a statement that "Secretary Hobbs and her staff have faced hundreds of death threats and threats of violence over the course of this campaign. Throughout this race, we have been clear that the safety of our staff and of the Secretary is our number one priority."
"Let's be clear: for nearly two years (Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee) Kari Lake and her allies have been spreading dangerous misinformation and inciting threats against anyone they see fit," DeMont continued. "The threats against Arizonans attempting to exercise their constitutional rights and their attacks on elected officials are the direct result of a concerted campaign of lies and intimidation."
DeMont said that intimidation "won't work," and expressed thanks to the Phoenix Police Department for keeping Hobbs and her team safe.
Lake on Wednesday appeared to claim without evidence that Hobbs' campaign was lying about the motivations behind the incident and said it "sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two," in reference to the actor who was convicted of making false reports to police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019.
When asked by CNN if she had a response to DeMont's claim that the incident was a "direct result of concerted campaign of lies and intimidation" by Lake and her allies, the Arizona GOP nominee shot back and said the statement was "absolutely absurd."
"And are you guys buying that? Are you really buying that? Because this sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two," Lake said before launching into a lengthy attack on the media.
