Ex-teacher sentenced to prison for making death threat against Arizona legislator

HOLBROOK, Ariz. (AP) - A former Tucson middle school teacher was sentenced Tuesday to 2.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to making a death threat against Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

Donald Glenn Brown pleaded guilty in April to a charge of attempting to make a terroristic threat and was sentenced Tuesday in Navajo County Superior Court.

The Arizona Republic reported that Brown was accused of sending the threatening email to a store in Show Low last July Fourth from a fake account.

Rogers, a far-right Republican who took office in January 2021 and represents Arizona’s 7th legislative district that includes Flagstaff, was in Show Low at that time for an Independence Day parade.

According to an Arizona Department of Public Safety report, Brown threatened to fatally shoot Rogers and then shoot up the store.

In a statement to the court included in a presentence report, the Republic reported that Brown wrote that he was “utterly and terribly ashamed” of his actions and had no intent of acting upon them.

Brown, a former music teacher, resigned from the Tucson Unified School District after he was arrested and charged in the case.

Rogers and the store owners asked the judge to impose a prison sentence rather than probation for Brown.