An Arizona Republican lawmaker has sparked outrage after publicly calling for the execution of a Democratic congresswoman — all because she encouraged people frustrated with President Donald Trump to protest.
Rep. John Gillette, a Republican from Kingman, didn’t mince words on the social media platform X when he said U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., was “advocat[ing] for the overthrow of the American government” and should be “tried convicted and hanged.” Gillette’s chilling message was posted alongside a video clip of Jayapal, taken from her “Resistance Lab” series, where she discusses protest movements and nonviolent resistance.
But a deeper look at the full video, reviewed by the Arizona Mirror, reveals no calls for violence or insurrection from Jayapal. Instead, the session focused entirely on nonviolent methods of resistance, with Jayapal urging protesters to be “strike ready” and “street ready” in a lawful and peaceful manner. The claim that she was inciting violence is unfounded, making Gillette’s incendiary remarks even more disturbing.
Gillette, meanwhile, has openly supported the Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021—a violent insurrection that saw police officers assaulted and Congress forcibly disrupted. He has repeatedly called the roughly 1,600 people prosecuted for their role in the riot “political prisoners,” many of whom were later pardoned by Trump.
When the Arizona Mirror attempted to get Gillette’s response over the phone, he refused to engage substantively. “You guys aren’t known for putting out accurate information,” he said before abruptly hanging up.
The response from Gillette’s Democratic colleagues was swift and fierce. Assistant House Democratic Leader Nancy Gutierrez condemned the lawmaker’s remarks as “appalling,” noting that Jayapal was exercising her First Amendment right to advocate for nonviolent protest.
“The Congresswoman was clearly talking about nonviolent protest and legal strikes — absolutely nothing violent,” Gutierrez said. “Representative Gillette misconstrued her words to once again put a target on a political opponent’s back, calling for her to be hanged. What will he need to say before Republican leadership in the House takes action? This is language that leads to violence. I’m tired of him putting us and our families at risk.”
Gillette’s calls for extreme retribution come amid a string of incendiary comments he’s made recently. After the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Gillette sent a message to his fellow lawmakers blaming the political left for violence, including a racial slur and inflammatory accusations that Democrats “invited the radicals to the table and they took over.” He even drew a twisted historical parallel, writing, “As the J–s did at Peral (sic) Harbor, Radical Muslims on 911, your party has woken the sleeping giant.”
This isn’t Gillette’s first brush with controversy over his inflammatory language. He recently faced an ethics complaint over Islamophobic remarks, which was dismissed on First Amendment grounds.
Experts tracking the surge in political violence express deep concern about rhetoric like Gillette’s. Jeff Sharlet, a Dartmouth professor and author specializing in the growing culture of political conflict, called the lawmaker’s words “grotesque” and warned that they could inspire actual violence.
“I would be afraid that someone would maybe act on it,” Sharlet said. “If he got anywhere near the Congresswoman he is targeting, I’d want security to take notice.”
Political violence in the U.S. has been escalating, with researchers pointing to an unprecedented period of violent populism. Dr. Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor with decades of expertise, described the current climate as a “historically high period of political violence.” He warned the country is “now … in the eye of the storm I was worried about.”
Pape’s recent research shows that significant portions of both Democratic and Republican voters support the use of force to address political grievances, a doubling of such support since last fall. The dangerous rhetoric coming from lawmakers like Gillette risks fueling this spiral, possibly pushing supporters on both sides toward more violence.
“It is going to push those supporters (of Jayapal) to becoming more defiant and probably more supportive of political violence against Republicans,” Pape explained. “Whatever his intentions are, it is increasing the danger to Republicans.”
Sharlet emphasized that politicians need to be clear and responsible in their language, especially in such volatile times. “This is not the time for ambiguous language,” he said.
Meanwhile, voices calling for calm and unity stand in stark contrast to Gillette’s venom. At the memorial for her late husband Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk said, “the answer to hate is not hate.” Pape praised her message, saying, “Erika Kirk offered an olive branch here, and we need more olive branches here.”
Instead, Gillette’s call for a political opponent to be “tried convicted and hanged” is a dark reminder of how poisonous rhetoric can tear at the fabric of democracy—and why the stakes have never been higher.
