Key Points:

• House Democrats file ethics complaint against Rep. John Gillette

• Complaint follows Gillette’s anti-Muslim social media posts and statements

• Ethics Chairman Rep. Lupe Diaz will not hear the complaint in committee

The House Ethics Committee will not be taking action for a complaint filed by Democrats against a Republican legislator who has made anti-Muslim remarks on social media.

House Democrats filed an ethics complaint against Rep. John Gillette, R-Kingman, after me called the Council on American-Islamic Relations a terrorist organization and said he rejects Islamophobia as “a construct of the Marxist left” in a series of social media posts on X.

House Democratic leaders filed the complaint on Sept. 10, according to a caucus spokesman. The complaint was filed after the Arizona Mirror published a story on Gillette’s posts that Democrats describe as “offensive, dangerous, and egregiously unbecoming of an elected official” in the complaint. 

The complaint alleges Gillette broke a House rule by engaging in disorderly behavior and damaging the public’s perception of the state House of Representatives. 

Gillette wrote in a Sept. 2 post on X that Muslims immigrants are attempting to bring “Sharia Law” to the U.S. as a “policy of Islam,” and linked the religion to the 2012 terrorist attack at the Benghazi American embassy in his interview with the Mirror, describing the attackers as “savages.”

House Democratic leaders said in a statement: “We strongly condemn the hateful and dangerous anti-Muslim comments by Representative John Gillette. Vile and bigoted language like this has no place in public discourse, undermines the safety and dignity of Muslim communities, and promotes fear and division. We know too well in Arizona that Islamophobic rhetoric can trigger acts of violence and put lives at risk. When used and sanctioned by public officials, it contradicts and weakens the core American values of equality, justice, and religious freedom.” 

The House Ethics Committee Chairman, Rep. Lupe Diaz, R-Benson, responded to the complaint on Sept. 12 with a letter to House Democrats and said he will not be taking further action with the complaint. 

Diaz said it would be unprecedented for the House to take up the complaint since remarks, statements, or opinions by lawmakers are not traditionally the subject of ethics inquiries. 

“Particularly in light of recent events, it is imperative that government institutions protect the freedom of speech, rather than take actions to silence, punish, or censor speech simply because someone might find it offensive or disagreeable,” Diaz wrote. “The inquiry you request this Committee to make would result in no more than an inquiry into the sincerity of Representative Gillette’s beliefs or a debate into the merits of those beliefs — neither for which an Ethics Committee hearing is the proper venue.”

In a statement Gillette provided to the House and sent to the Arizona Capitol Times, Gillette said Democrats are attempting to punish him for exercising his First Amendment Rights. 

“Immigrants are welcomed here as guests who can become fellow citizens, and gratitude, respect, and loyalty to our nation are the minimum expectations. Yet too often, what we see instead is a demand that Americans change our culture, our speech, or our religion so as not to ‘offend’ those who chose to come here. That is not assimilation — it is subversion,” Gillette wrote in his statement. “I will treat every human being with dignity and respect. But I will not, and America must not, bow to the demands of those who place their foreign ideologies above our Constitution.”

House Assistant Minority Leader Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, said on Sept. 11 that Democrats were hoping Diaz would hold a hearing for the complaint.

“It was important for us to file because of the extreme language and hateful words that he was repeatedly using online, and those are the kinds of words that incite political violence that we’re seeing,” Gutierrez said. 

In his statement, Gillette called Democrats hypocrites and referenced Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, hiding Bibles in the House last session when she attempted to make a point about not letting religion influence the government. 

“This is hypocrisy of the highest order. The Democratic Party will bend over backwards to defend those who hate America yet attack, and censor those who defend it. That is the Democrat Party of today,” Gillette wrote in his statement.

The Arizona chapter of the Arizona-Islamic Relations Council condemned Gillette’s comments in a news release on Sept. 10. 

“We commend Arizona House Democratic leaders for taking swift action by filing an ethics complaint,” said Azza Abuseif, Executive Director of CAIR-Arizona. “Rep. Gillette’s remarks are not only morally repugnant — they are dangerous. Anti-Muslim rhetoric fuels discrimination, threats, and even violence against our communities. Elected officials should be held to the highest standards of accountability and respect for all constituents, regardless of faith or background.”