‘This Is An Odd One’: Maricopa Sheriff Gives Charlie Kirk ‘Shout Out’ For ‘Helpful’ Tweet About Election Protests
The Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone spoke to reporters about protesters outside the elections office where tabulation of Tuesday’s vote totals continues, and mentioned two people on the political right — one by name, and one not.
Some protesters marched outside an elections office where the Maricopa County tabulation continues in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, and Sheriff Penzone expressed concerns over the potential problems that could arise if rhetoric were to be too heated or “volatile.”
He remarked that it’s important for people to be “adults in the room” when some are “acting like children.”
“We know there’s some people that just get over-zealous and do some things that give us cause for concern,” he said. “Otherwise the sheriff wouldn’t be here talking to you.”
Penzone praised Maricopa elections official Bill Gates, and the work being done in the county to tabulate the results, and talked about safety being his priority.
He then remarked that leadership means “being thoughtful with your words, and recognizing the consequences or what your words can provoke others to.”
He said that tweets sent out on Friday from “at least one elected official” was sent out that gave them “cause for concern.
Republican state senator Wendy Rogers sent out a tweet Friday exhorting “patriots” to “RISE UP” at the elections office, and included the address in the tweet.
Toward the end, Penzone said he recognized that protesters that came out on Saturday were “law-abiding” and that the sheriff’s office “respected” their exercising their First Amendment rights.
He then specifically praised TPUSA founder and podcast host Charlie Kirk.
“This is kind of an odd one, I’m going to give a shout out to somebody, I guess, there’s a young man named Charlie Kirk, is part of an organization, I don’t have a whole lot of familiarity with it, but he sent out a message saying be law-abiding and please don’t gather around the county facilities, and let folks do their job or something to that extent,” said the sheriff.
Wendy Rogers was retweeting Kirk on Friday on the subject of the election results. On Saturday, Kirk tweeted advice to those on the right who are angry about the election or believe in Kirk’s theories about fraud or theft not to “tweet or say stupid things” or “give them an excuse to stop counting votes.”
“It seems as though his words resonated, he’s viewed as a leader in some factions, in some groups, and they responded to it,” said Sheriff Penzone. “That’s helpful for law enforcement.”
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
