2025 March Issue of InMaricopa Magazine

2025 March Issue of InMaricopa Magazine InMaricopa.com InMaricopa is Maricopa's premier local news source InMaricopa is your go-to source for hyper-local news and information about Maricopa, Arizona. Stay informed with the latest community updates, events, and stories that matter to our city. InMaricopa is the only dedicated news outlet focusing exclusively on the city of Maricopa, ensuring residents are always in the know.

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March 2025

Maricopa steps up to the mic An inside look at the Wild West Music Fest featuring country icon LeAnn Rimes

HISTORY • GOVERNMENT • COMMUNITY • BUSINESS • HOME • MORE

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InMaricopa.com | March 2025

CONTENTS

LEADING OFF Editor’s letter 8 Contributors 8 HISTORY

Maricopa Accelerated Program KINDERGARTEN TO THIRD GRADE

Let there be (stop) light 10 This month in history 10 GOVERNMENT Latino residents fear deportation under new admin 12 A riveting conversation with a local J6er hours after Trump pardoned him 20 Permits 28 COMMUNITY What to know about the second Wild West Music Fest 30 Single women explain why dating in Maricopa is impossible 32 BUSINESS Briefs 36 Restaurant inspections 37 Mandy’s Wine Bar does things a little differently 38 HEALTH & WELLNESS A plot twist you deserve 42 Living in Arizona ups skin cancer risk. What you should know 44

ABOUT US

Designed for kids and families interested in a rigorous experience that promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, and advanced reading skills so that students work above grade level.

Tuition Free Located at SADDLEBACK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (520)-568-6110 musd20.org/map

EDUCATION Central Arizona College is a no-brainer for undecided upperclassmen 46 HOME There have literally been legends told about this onion 50 The tax benefits of home ownership 51 Extreme home sales 52 Professional property management is cheaper than you think 53

EVENTS Calendar 54 TRENDING A look at what’s hot on InMaricopa.com 63 PARTING SHOT Gone fishin’ 64

ON THE COVER Grammy Award-winning country music artist LeAnn Rimes will perform in Maricopa April 5 as the headliner of the second ever Wild West Music Fest. Rimes, from Mississippi, is based in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of LeAnn Rimes.

InMaricopa.com | March 2025

FROM THE EDITOR

M MASS DEPORTATION. THE JAN. 6 INSURRECTION. The loneliness epidemic. These aren’t just American stories. They’re Maricopa stories. Don’t believe me? Stick with me, and I’ll show you why. These topics are hot, and they’re everywhere right now. Whether scrolling through Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s daily updates on X fills you with vicarious patriotism or paranoic dread, there’s ample reading material to be found. But can you find any stories about ICE checkpoints here in Maricopa? Yep, there are checkpoints. And the attack on the U.S. Capitol? You might not think it’s local… until you learn that one of the rioters, recently pardoned for his Jan. 6 crime, is a neighbor of ours. It was that kind of month. While David Iversen stood at the frontlines of an anti-deportation protest, wedged between picketers and armed police, I was sitting down for brunch with an insurrectionist. Like I said, these are Maricopa stories, for those willing to tell them. Do I think the 2020 election was stolen? No. But do I think so-called J6ers are dangerous extremists? Also no. Do I think lawful residents of the U.S. face any real risk of deportation? Not remotely. But, in this edition, we met some people who do. As journalists, we often tell the stories of people who disagree with us. If you’ve ever talked to a Hot topic

Publisher SCOTT BARTLE

reporter, I’m sure you wanted them to keep an open mind. I challenge our readers to do the same — listen to the words of your neighbors and decide if you agree with them. If you don’t, that’s OK!

Editorial Director ELIAS WEISS

Advertising Manager TAWNI PROCTOR

So, yeah — these topics are hot and heavy, but they’re really important, even in our little city. Our editorial team thrives on digging into them. But the real question is: Do you, our readers, want to dig into these topics with us? Or are they too hot to handle? I love hearing from our readers — what they love, what they hate, what gets them

Advertising VINCENT MANFREDI AMBER ROGALLA BRITTANY RUSSELL MICHELLE SORENSEN

Writers MAGGIE ALMQUIST KRISTINA DONNAY

thinking. Just last week, Chris, 69, from Rancho El Dorado told me he’s eagerly awaiting more on political and government investigations. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Kylie from Alterra can’t put down our unsolved deaths series and is counting down the days until part three. We want to hear from you. At the end of the day, we’re creating these magazines for YOU — and only YOU. It’s an honor to do it every month. See you in April.

TRUDY FULLER JUSTIN GRIFFIN DAVID IVERSEN DAYV MORGAN

BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR. JORDAN RICHARDSON TOM SCHUMAN MONICA D. SPENCER SHERMAN AND EUPHEMIA WEEKES

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JORDAN RICHARDSON We all love the Arizona sun. Podiatrist Dr. Jordan tells us how safe habits can help us enjoy it for longer.

MAGGIE ALMQUIST Community college whisperer Maggie has some advice for undecided upperclassmen.

KRISTINA DONNAY Med spa Dr. Kristina knows how to stifle a hormonal rebellion in your body.

Published advertisements are not an endorsement of products or advertising claims by InMaricopa . No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of InMaricopa . Copyright 2025.

WWW.EHC24.COM/MARICOPA 10960 N. John Wayne Parkway | Maricopa, AZ 85139 | 520.534.0700

InMaricopa.com | March 2025

HISTORY

New homes starting in the $300’s

Find your community here

Not a one-stoplight town anymore In 2004, the City of Maricopa was working with the Arizona Department of Transportation to design and review traffic signals for John Wayne Parkway intersections at Lakeview Drive/Cobblestone Farms Road and State Route 238/

Smith-Enke Road. This InMaricopa file photo from that year shows a two-way stop at the Lakeview intersection while the installation of the traffic signals was being completed. Last year, the city revamped the intersection again, adding another left turn lane into Rancho El Dorado, and a free flow right turn lane onto northbound John Wayne Parkway.

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY For these and other historical stories, visit InMaricopa.com.

5 years ago

10 years ago

15 years ago

20 years ago

Coronavirus pandemic closures began shutting down much of Maricopa. During this month, students at local public schools learned the closures would last through the end of the school year. The Harrah’s and Wild Horse Pass casinos announced two- week closures to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. Public buildings like City Hall, Copper Sky Recreational Complex and the Maricopa Library were shuttered.

Goldie the Van was towed. The beloved golden van that collected hundreds of pounds of food donations in the Walmart parking lot and garnered a large social media presence is a core memory for longtime residents of the city. Mandy Hogenes brought the phenomenon to The Ellen Show , Buzzfeed.com, television news channels and radio stations. Meanwhile, on Twitter and Facebook, the hashtag #CopasGoldenVan helped make the vehicle a tourist attraction for several weeks. The van, which had tallied 464,000 miles, was towed to its owner in Texas, who began living in it.

A 13-year-old boy was booked into juvie after firing a handgun multiple times into the air and into the ground at a bus stop and then bringing the firearm to Desert Wind Middle School, stashing it outdoors on school property. Homestead resident Steven Joy called our news desk after seeing a photo of the gun online — it was his gun, and it had been stolen from his home the night before. The student was arrested on a slew of weapons charges, but information about the court proceedings is not publicly available due to the age of the defendant.

A 305-pound marijuana seizure led to the arrest of one man and the deportation of another. Sheriff’s deputies stopped a 1987 Honda Accord traveling northbound on Stanfield Road and found Stanfield resident Jason Zuniga, 28, as the driver and Ivan Pulido, 21, a Mexican national, as the passenger. Zuniga was charged with possessing marijuana, selling drugs, transporting drugs and possessing drug paraphernalia. Three months later, he was convicted on two of the charges. Pulido was turned over to Border Patrol agents for deportation.

D.R. Horton is an Equal Housing Opportunity Builder. DRH Properties, Inc., Broker. Home and community information, pricing, plans, elevations, included features, options, terms, availability, amenities, and co-broke, are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. Drawings, pictures, photographs, video, square footages, colors, features, and sizes are for illustration purposes only and will vary from the homes as built. Square footage dimensions are approximate and vary by elevation. If Buyer is working with a licensed real estate agent or broker, the agent or broker must accompany and register buyer on first visit to the community. See sales agent for complete details and pricing, including a list of available homes. Prices vary by community. D.R. Horton reserves the right to cancel or change all offers without prior notice. Prices shown are base home prices and do not include closing cost and fees, lot premium, modifications to plans and custom features which may substantially affect final cost of the home. Furnishings and decorative items not included with home purchase. Construction by DRH Phoenix East Construction, Inc., License #ROC 064532-B. Contact us for Maricopa specific homebuyer incentives. 480-780-2171 or phxeastinformation@drhorton.com

InMaricopa.com | March 2025

GOVERNMENT

ICEd out Maricopa is in the CBP danger zone. Under new ‘border czar,’ some residents fear deportation

‘People are scared to come to work’ Spalacios’ story is a microcosm of what is playing out across the country. She is an example of the anxiety and anger over what could happen to families as new immigration actions go into effect. The new Donald J. Trump administration began with a flurry of sweeping immigration orders, including the announcement of mass deportation operations, the declaring an invasion at the southern border and the appointment of hardliner Tom Homan as “border czar.” Maricopa is within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, putting it in the jurisdic- tion of both Customs and Border Patrol and ICE. According to U.S. Census Bureau records, one-third of Maricopa’s population identifies as Hispanic. While this small city hasn’t yet seen the same aggressive immigration actions as those in the core of the Phoenix metro, the threat is impacting the Maricopa community, residents say.

IANA SPALACIOS MOVED TO Maricopa in December. Like so many others, she found a safe community for her young family to

I think people are afraid of being betrayed, being deported, knowing that people who are here legally will be deported.” DIANA SPALACIOS

own their first home. “The people I’ve met so far have been very welcoming,” she said. The daughter of Mexican undocumented immigrants grew up in Phoenix, and her father provided for her and her family working illegitimate jobs in the sanitation sector. Most of her family and friends stayed quiet — and stayed inside — as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement missions (better known as ICE raids) began in the 2010s. “I remember in that time, a lot of people didn’t protest,” she said from a bench at Copper Sky Regional Park. “I feel like a lot of people were scared to go in the streets.” Spalacios isn’t an activist. She is a mom, a wife and a professional. The recent immigration actions have spurred her to get more involved, though. “People are always saying, if you’re here, why don’t you start your process legally? I think people are afraid of being betrayed, being deported, knowing that people who are here legally will be deported.”

BY DAVID IVERSEN

InMaricopa.com | March 2025

RED HOT BUYS VALID UNTIL MARCH 31

GOVERNMENT

“People are still out here, but the energy has really changed,” said a Latino Maricopa food truck owner, asking for anonymity for fear of deportation. “People are scared to come to work. They’re scared that they’ll be harassed.” “Even those that of us that are here legally, we did everything right, it’s scary,” said another Latino Maricopa resident who works in landscaping and is documented. Executive order targets Pinal County As part of his immigration overhaul, President Trump signed 27 revised policies regarding immigration and seven new policies. The new policies allow ICE to enter “sensitive areas” like churches and schools. One executive order told migrant resource groups to stop work immediately. With a stroke of a presidential pen, Pinal County- based immigrant legal team The Florence Project was cut off. The Florence Project, based in that city and serving Maricopa, is a nonprofit that helps detained migrants navigate the legal immigration system. According to Florence Project staff, they were barred from immigrant detention facilities across Arizona. “This action ignores generations of legal precedent and actions by Congress to ensure people have a process to have their asylum claims heard,” said The Florence Project in a news release. “This leaves no avenues open for people to seek asylum, even if they present at a port of entry. We are proud to stand with people seeking protection and to challenge this cruel and anti-American policy.” The local legal services group has been funded by Congress since 2003. Its grant funding was also cut off. “Shutting down these contracts while simultaneously mobilizing massive deportation operations throughout the country and expanding immigration detention is cruel and an enormous violation of people’s rights under the law,” the news release stated. On Feb. 7, after the group sued the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, the Florence Project had its access to detention centers restored. Taking to the streets It is these sweeping migration actions and the flurry of legal challenges that spurred so many to protest in the streets of Arizona. While left-wing extremists believe in abolishing immigration enforcement totally, many of the more moderate demonstrators are taking issue with how

Maricopa

Diana Spalacios stands for a portrait at Copper Sky Regional Park Feb. 9.

day and into the night. InMaricopa attended several of the rallies. Some protesters came from Maricopa. The protests “are making a huge impact,” said one local schoolteacher. After teaching a full day of American history, this teacher drove the 45 minutes to join the protests. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of political fallout in her personal life. “I’ve had students come up to me and asking me, ‘Are my parents going to be taken away from me?’ And I teach 9- and 10-year-olds,” she said. The protests remained mostly peaceful in Phoenix, but some protesters smashed police car windshields in Glendale. “We’re trying to show [lawmakers] that we’re not going anywhere,” protester Darwin Guillen told InMaricopa . “We’re standing up for our rights.” Schools not working with law enforcement Maricopa schools fielded dozens of questions about changes to immigration policy, too. It prompted Maricopa Unified School District leaders to send a notice to parents about their policy regarding working with immigration officers. A copy of the memo was provided to InMaricopa by the district. “We want to reassure families that MUSD is committed to protecting the safety and rights

enforcement is being handled. After 15 Native Americans were detained in Arizona in January, several Maricopa residents voiced concern for their Indigenous neighbors as Maricopa is the only city in the U.S. to abut two Indian reservations. Spalacios planned to attend protests for the first time in her life. “The reason why we’re at this protest is to share our story, to be able to fight for our parents that didn’t get that voice,” she said. “Maybe they got deported, or maybe they’re still here, trying to be here legally.” Every night in the first week of February, protesters took to the streets in downtown Phoenix, Glendale and Maryvale. They were large-scale protests, attracting hundreds to shut down thoroughfares in the middle of the This leaves no avenues open for people to seek asylum, even if they present at a port of entry. We are proud to stand with people seeking protection and to challenge this cruel and anti-American policy.” FLORENCE PROJECT

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InMaricopa.com | March 2025

GOVERNMENT

Chamber pressure Breakup over contract violations means end to ‘social club’

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felt the impact immigration policy had on her family. Her father was ripped away from her family, returned to Mexico for crossing the border illegally. “We opened the door. We wanted to do the right thing,” she said, remembering the day ICE officers came to take her family to a detention facility for illegally entering the country. “I ran to the backyard, and I was crying and screaming because I was confused. “I feel like a little part of me was going away, and I didn’t know what was going to happen to my dad,” she remembered, as her eyes welled up. “I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. That stayed with me. “The whole experience was so traumatic for me.” Trump sent MAGA mouthpiece to Maricopa Monica Crowley, the recently appointed assistant Secretary of State, stumped for the Trump campaign in September at the Maricopa

Library & Cultural Center. In describing what to expect from the new administration, she invoked a familiar story. In 2000, Cuban-born Elián Gonzáles, 6, was forcefully removed from a Florida home after entering the U.S. illegally. As seen in a Pulitzer- winning photograph, Gonzales was pulled from a closet by immigration officers pointing MP5s at the crying child. It was a moment seared into the American psyche, one that stayed with Monica Crowley 24 years later, she said. “There were all these photographs, the kid is screaming, crying as he’s removed,” Crowley told an audience of Maricopa voters and journalists. The news media “is going to make President Trump’s life every day a living hell with these images of people being forcibly removed from places in New York and Arizona and your community here,” she told the Maricopa audience, mostly in Trump campaign gear. “They’re going to try to put so much pressure on him to stop these mass deportations.” The crowd nodded in approval.

of our students,” wrote Superintendent Tracey Lopeman in the Jan. 28 memo. “School staff will not inquire or collect information or records about a student’s immigration status or that of their family members.” Immigration status does not affect a student’s right to enroll in school. As established by the Supreme Court in the landmark 1982 case Plyler v. Doe, all children — regardless of immigration status — have the right to a free public education. Barring students from public education based on their immigration status would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, the justices had concluded. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, law enforcement officers must show “proper legal documentation” — a.k.a. a warrant — to access student records. Spalacios has spent four-fifths of her life in school. She intimately understands such anxieties. When Spalacios was a child, she said she

Home of the 4x HS State Champion Track & Cross Country star, Noah Charves

InMaricopa.com | March 2025

GOVERNMENT

NATIONWIDE BORDER ENCOUNTERS

had such an agreement since 2008, and newly elected Sheriff Ross Teeple sees no changes. “If they’re concerned in Pinal County, the best way to not end up in one of my jails is to not commit a crime,” said Teeple. “Crossing the border not through a point of entry is a crime in just about every country I’ve ever visited.” Subversive education Those “targeted arrests” are why groups like Phoenix-based Puente AZ are holding what is called migra watch — or migration watch — to train residents including some Maricopans on where and when ICE raids are happening and what to do when confronted. Lawyers train community members in what to say — and not say — to immigration officers. The goal, said Puente AZ Director Natalie Cruz, is to document any harassment or racial profiling of those here legally or pursuing legal status. Maricopa is one of the group’s areas of interest. “We wanted our community members to be on alert, to be able to help,” Cruz told InMaricopa . “I, myself, am undocumented. I do have DACA

“Trump is going to need all of our support to make sure that he can see this policy through in removing tens of millions of criminal illegal aliens,” said Crowley. ‘They do not conduct raids,’ says new sheriff Ross Teeple was at that Trump campaign event. The Republican from Cactus Forest was mere weeks away from winning his bid for Pinal County Sheriff. While settling into the new role, Teeple went to the National Sheriff’s Association Conference in Washington, D.C. He listened to the border czar Homan talk about immigration enforcement. “What they repeated over and over again is that they do not conduct raids,” Teeple told InMaricopa . “A raid or a sweep is going into an area and then just basically asking everybody for their papers and that is not what ICE is doing. “ICE is going in and making targeted arrests of criminal or illegal aliens.” One of the Trump Administration’s first orders was to expand 287(g) agreements with

Crossing the border not through a point of entry is a crime in just about every country I’ve ever visited.” ROSS TEEPLE, PINAL COUNTY SHERIFF

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8.25

They’re enjoying the pain of the families. “We want to show the other side. We want to show what families are actually suffering and what they’re going through.” The American Dream isn’t for everyone No one can say for sure how these immigration actions will play out in Maricopa. While there have not been any large-scale raids in the area, it’s undoubtedly having a chilling effect on the community, based on more than a dozen interviews with Latino Maricopans since Trump’s swearing in.

ICE agents in January set up a checkpoint on John Wayne Parkway in the Hidden Valley community between Maricopa and Stanfield, according to three people who navigated the checkpoint. Even for legally documented citizens like Spalacios, it’s “kind of scary, because of the kind of treatment we receive.” “Citizens that look like me will get comments at the grocery store. You get that kind of racism,” said Spalacios. “That’s very uncomfortable and discouraging, because a lot of people just want to come here and chase their dreams.”

(Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and I know that can be taken away at any time. There is fear in the immigrant community, but it’s also very tiring. It’s very tiring that we continue to be in this fight, that our community continues to be attacked.” Cruz and her team set up Ves Algo, Di Algo (See Something, Say Something), a text chain meant to warn migrants of ICE activity around the state of Arizona, including Maricopa. InMaricopa was invited to join the text chain. “This administration is pushing folks to back into the shadows, pushing folks to be in fear,” she said. “It feels like they’re enjoying this.

5.5

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2.75

2017-2020

2021-2024

Homes sold

Source: Department of Homeland Security

state and local law enforcement agencies, giving local law enforcement the ability to enforce federal immigration law. Pinal County has Table 1 2023 2024 Homes sold 3 10.8

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InMaricopa.com | March 2025

March 2025 | InMaricopa.com

GOVERNMENT

Innocent after proven guilty A raw conversation with your friendly neighborhood J6er

BY ELIAS WEISS

racist” and far worst things by other metro Phoenix journalists sip his juice and share a meal, a conversation and even a few laughs with a member of the lame-stream media such as myself. Not to mention my Jewish ancestry. A few hours before our interview, he had posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Stalin was a good man.” And that’s actually quite tame compared to the on-camera confrontations that cultivated his internet stardom pre-Jan. 6. Our waitress recognized Jackson from the newspapers. Her propinquity to swooning was palpable — she insisted on getting a photo. He was wearing a timeless red MAGA cap, a “NEVER SURRENDER!” t-shirt featuring the president’s 2023 booking mugshot and a chunky Eastern Orthodox crucifix hanging from a gold chain on his chest. He had the impeccable grooming you’d expect from an (honorably discharged) ex-Marine, and he brought his framed certificate of pardon, freshly signed by President Trump himself. I hadn’t interviewed Jackson in two years. It wasn’t until the New Times and the Arizona Republic identified Jackson as a Maricopa resident in January articles that I realized we had unfinished business. Fortunately, he agreed. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. ELIAS WEISS: Since you reminded me, I did call you a hard-right Libertarian. I still think that’s pretty accurate, too. But I was thinking about it — if I wrote that today, I’d probably call you a nonpartisan Christian nationalist. Because I saw you publicly attacking [White House Press Secretary] Karoline Leavitt yesterday for her 32-year-age-gap marriage. MICAJAH JACKSON: She wears a cross, and I really hope she’s about that, but can I know for sure? No. There is, honestly, a lot I don’t care for about Republicans. For example, McConnell, Romney, Murkowski [GOP senators of Kentucky, Utah and Alaska] — you’ve been in politics for 40 years. That’s not a sign of a healthy democracy. At least Democrats, and some of

ICAJAH JACKSON WAS IN PRETTY hot demand when we sat down to breakfast Jan. 31. It was two days after President Donald J. Trump

honored his campaign promise to pardon Jackson for a crime he had committed during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Of course, it’s no longer accurate to call ... whatever Jackson did that day, flanked by members of the neofascist militant group Proud Boys ... a “crime.” He’s not a Proud Boy, by the way; he’s just friends with them. Hell, his biggest idol is a Democrat. Don’t believe me? Keep reading. Jackson, better known by his influencer moniker The JFK Report, had turned down interviews with the likes of NBC News and USA Today in the hours following the pardon, he told me at breakfast. He only agreed to one interview, and it was with the guy who called his “Justice for J6” rally a “tearful bitch fest” in the headline of a Phoenix New Times article in early 2023, a handful of weeks before I came on board as editor of InMaricopa . Yeah, I’m that guy. I stand by my assessment. In the same New Times article, I called Jackson a “hard-right Libertarian.” During our recent breakfast, he said that was one of the most accurate ways he’d ever been described by a reporter and called me “nice and honest enough.” High praise for a journalist in my position. Trust me. Jackson, a former Marine who was never charged — let alone convicted — of any other crime before or since Jan. 6, 2021, told me his guilty plea in federal Zoom-call court was nothing more than a stratagem. To many, myself included (I’ve periodically interviewed Jackson for different news publications since the date of the riot), he sounded like a pissed-off provocateur when he said as much four years earlier. And here I was, in 2025, eating my words as a side dish with French toast. He, meanwhile, ordered an apple juice. It was a funny juxtaposition to see the 29-year-old, who has been called a “right-wing extremist,” a “Nazi propagandist,” an “anti-government

MICAJAH JOEL JACKSON

Screen name: The JFK Report Age: 29 Hometown: Helena, Mont. Military service: U.S. Marines 2014-2016 Charged with: Picketing in a Capitol Building Sentence: 90 days in halfway house, 2 years probation Breached the U.S. Capitol: Jan. 6, 2021 Jailed in Phoenix: May 18, 2021 Pardoned by Trump: Jan. 29, 2025 Alma mater: Grand Canyon University Field of study: Political science

Dream job: Professor Deployed from: Camp Pendleton, Calif. Deployed to: Oceania

Because his mother was in 10th grade and his father was a severe alcoholic, Jackson was raised by his grandparents in poverty in a Montana trailer home. At age 16, he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol. He joined the Marines to get clean. Today, he is proudly six years sober.

InMaricopa.com | March 2025

March 2025 | InMaricopa.com

GOVERNMENT

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scrunches): ‘Gangs? No, I’m not part of any gangs.’ He’s like, ‘Well, what about the MAGA gang?’ I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m part of MAGA.’ He said he might have been, too. That sounds diametrically opposed to what we saw in court, and in the media, in terms of how you were described. Prosecutors and reporters had said you were part of multiple so-called gangs, such as the Proud Boys. I was blindsided. The government lied about me. The prosecutor was batshit nuts. They colluded with the media — CNN, Rolling Stone — I’ve been all over the papers. And I smiled in my mugshot for J6. What more can they do, kill me? God bless my heart, but I will not be shamed. At the end of the day, I got to pay bills, I got mouths to feed. Growing up, I had my aches and pains from slip-ups, but nothing crazy. I mean, nothing to land me in jail. You were called ‘violent,’ though, both in the Jan. 6 context and in your activism around the Phoenix area. But you actually consider yourself a pacifist, is that right? I’m not going to hurt you, and I expect the same thing. The wars — what Israel is doing to Palestine, they did have a right to self-defense, but they wiped out that whole area. Then you have the war in Ukraine, and Afghanistan. And for me, it’s the Christians. No one ever talks about the Christians. No one wants to talk about the Christians over there where there is war and bloodiness. That’s a greater reason why I voted for Trump than pardoning me. This brings up an interesting dichotomy. You’re anti-war, but you joined the Marines, and you participated in the Jan. 6 riots because you felt it was your duty as a Marine to protect against threats foreign and domestic. In this case, domestic. Yeah. That’s tantamount to an act of war, no? There was no plan of storming the Capitol. I knew about the J6 rally like three weeks before it happened, and I was going to go to the rally, but there was no plan of going to the Capitol. But I legit saw the cops come out of nowhere in undercover black gear; they started shooting their pepper balls and their flashbangs. And there were little kids there. So, yeah, I stormed the Capitol. I did. But I didn’t plan on it. There

them are batshit crazy, will give me the truth — at least I know they want to fully abort those babies, they want to castrate these children. So, the pardon — it’s not a quid pro quo for you. I know you, I think, well enough to say that if Donald Trump betrayed your Christian values, for example, you wouldn’t ever wear that MAGA hat again. What is your relationship with Donald Trump, and what, specifically, would it take for you to forsake him? In the Marine Corps, we were taught how to address presidents. So, to me, he’s not my friend, he is the Honorable President Donald J. Trump. I say the same thing about Obama and Biden. Well, actually, no, not Biden, because the 2020 election was illegitimate. But, Trump, I don’t owe him my loyalty. I assumed, when he got into office, that I was going to get a pardon. But at the same time, if it didn’t happen, I wasn’t going to get mad about it. My ultimate pardon is going to be in Heaven when I ask for forgiveness from Christ. There are J6ers who are on Twitter openly telling people that they’re going to commit suicide if they don’t get a pardon. For me, my life moves on. There are other J6ers out there who need to seek mental therapy. Hypotheticals aside, you’re an ardent supporter of Trump, obviously. However, if I remember correctly, you didn’t vote for him in 2016, which was your first presidential election since coming of age. I was in a foxhole when I voted absentee for Gary Johnson. I always read the news here and there, but I didn’t enlist in the culture war until the summer of 2019. I’m watching the news, and I see they want to impeach Trump over the phone call with Ukraine, and the moment that happened, I went full-on. We’re going to impeach our commander-in-chief over a phone call? I said, nope, this is my guy, full-on. A lot of people in the alt-right space joined the culture war the following summer, the summer of Geroge Floyd. I met you around that time, and you were a year ahead, so to speak. Who inspired you? Tim Pool, Adam Carolla and Glenn Beck. We’re both in our twenties, at least for a little while longer. We’re the generation that was supposed to elevate Kamala Harris to victory, right? But it didn’t go that way, and Arizona was no exception. I can’t help but think activists played

a role. Your brand of resistance — the public meltdowns, incendiary language — whatever you call that, what you do, it’s a form of activism, right? I would call it that, yes. And it ostensibly has some influence over others. Would you call yourself an influencer? I don’t. You can say I’m an influencer, locally, and that’s cool. To answer your question, did I play a part? Sure. But I never meant to influence anyone’s ideas or political opinions. What was the motivation, then, for broadcasting those clips so widely and making them so, for lack of a better term, in-your-face? Offensive, even? The JFK Report really started to take off once the feds came to my house, when the arrest happened. For me, it was an exercise in free speech, pretty much. I’m going to broadcast it because I can, and you can suck on that. You just mentioned your arrest. You were removed from your home here, in this community, and I think a lot of my readers, at least, don’t know that. Tell me how it happened. I didn’t get raided, which makes me one of the luckiest J6ers. They knocked on my front door at 11 a.m. I was batshit nervous, dude. Did you expect that visit? Yes and no. Yes, generally, but no, not in that second. But I’m glad it happened because I’ll tell you, I was living in a state of paranoia. They were on the news one day after Jan. 6 saying, ‘We’re going to hunt you people down, all of you.’ I knew I was one of them. I had never seen an FBI agent in my life. They pulled me outside; they laid out a folder on the hood of my buddy’s car. They were pointing to the documents: ‘This is you. These are your footsteps.’ And my hands went like this (he throws his hands over his head) and I’m like, ‘Yep. You caught me.’ I kind of collapsed. I was, like, so nervous. Your first, ahem, perp walk, was in an FBI car, huh? Was it a long ride to FBI headquarters in downtown Phoenix? They handcuffed me in the front, actually. They had four guys with shotguns, and they were asking me questions. My favorite agent was the one who said, ‘Hey, M.J., you part of any gangs?’ And I sat there like this (his face

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InMaricopa.com | March 2025

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