Arizona congressman Grijalva’s offices to close because of death threats

The district offices of Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will close early Friday afternoon due to threats made against staff, the congressman’s spokesman said.

One man called the congressman’s Tucson office twice and said he would “blow everyone’s brains out,” spokesman Adam Sarvana told The Hill. 

{mosads}The threats come amid a heated debate over a controversial immigration law approved by the Arizona Legislature this week. The measure would allow Arizona state police to check
the documents of people they suspect are illegal immigrants.

Opponents of the bill, who include Grijalva, say that the bill is discriminatory.

President Barack Obama criticized the bill Friday morning at a naturalization ceremony for American military service members as his administration has been pressured to act on federal immigration reform.

“If we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts around the country,” Obama said.

The man who made the threats said that after he killed people in the offices, he would travel to the Mexican border, then start shooting any Mexican he saw coming across the border, according to Sarvana.

He said that Grijalva’s offices in Tucson and Yuma are closing Friday at noon local time, hours before they were set to shut down, as a precaution and are expected to reopen Monday.

Police have been notified of the threat and are currently guarding the Tucson office, but not the Yuma office because no specific threat was made to staff there.

The threats to Grijalva’s staff come after lawmakers from both parties were threatened in the wake of the healthcare reform vote last month. 

The Tucson Police Department was not immediately available for comment.