Kamala Harris campaign office damaged by gunfire in Arizona

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Police are investigating what appears to be gunfire damage that occurred on Sept. 23 at a Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign office for Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona.

Police are investigating what appears to be gunfire damage occurring overnight on Sept. 23 at a Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Office for Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona. “We can confirm that on 9/23/24, what appears to be damage from gunfire at…a DNC Campaign Office, was discovered,” Tempe police said in a statement to NBC News last week. The incident occurred just a few days before Harris visited Arizona as she campaigns for the upcoming presidential election.  

Tempe police said that officers responded Monday, Sept. 23, after calls from workers and that they observed what appeared to be gunshots through the front windows of the office, which is shared by staff members for the Arizona Democratic Party—which includes the Harris campaign and Senate and House campaigns. "No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby," Tempe Police spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Cook told ABC News. The coordinated campaign office in Tempe is one of 18 field offices for the Harris campaign in Arizona, according to Patty Socarras, the state Democratic Party's communications director. The Associated Press reported that since no one was at the office during the incident, law enforcement is labeling it a property crime.

Gun violence has been a hot topic for Harris—a gun owner—as a presidential candidate. During an interview with Oprah two weeks ago, she made national headlines for saying she would shoot an intruder if they entered her home. Throughout her campaign, she has called for the banning of assault weapons and for states to institute red flag laws. “We’ve got to end the epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all,” she told supporters at her New Hampshire rally earlier last month after the Georgia school shooting that killed four. 

This has not been the first time the same office has been shot. The apparent gunfire marks the second incident of criminal damage at that office in recent weeks, according to Tempe police, who said that just after midnight on Sept. 16, the office’s front windows were hit with what appeared to be a pellet gun. Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano condemned the vandalism in a statement to ABC News Phoenix affiliate KNXV. "It's extremely sad that the Arizona Democratic Party has become the target of violence—it's not who we are as Arizonans or Americans. We are working with law enforcement to ensure this threat is taken seriously and that our staff members are safe while they're at work," she said in a statement, "We are working with law enforcement to ensure this threat is taken seriously and that our staff members are safe while they’re at work.”

This has not been the only politically motivated shooting or attack in recent weeks. Law enforcement around the country is under heightened alert over an increase in political violence threats.