Arizona Sheriff: John Kerry Must Resign After Blaming Paris Attack Victims

Congressional candidate Paul Babeu declared Secretary of State John Kerry disqualified to hold any office, including secretary of state, after Kerry implied that he understood the rationale behind the terrorist attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left a dozen people dead.

“Blaming the victims of that horrific murder spree disqualifies John Kerry from holding any office, much less one as important as Secretary of State,” Babeu, running in the 1st Congressional District said. Babeu is currently the sheriff of Pinal County in Arizona.

The January Islamic terror attack on Charlie Hebdo centered on political cartoonists and their illustrative depictions of Mohammed.

The statement out of Babeu’s congressional campaign referenced a Politico article that quoted Kerry as saying:

There’s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of — not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, OK, they’re really angry because of this and that.

Kerry made his comments to staff and families at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France, on Tuesday.

“Disagreement over a political cartoon never justifies murder,” Babeu said. “Our government leaders must call these kinds of attacks for what they are: plots by Muslim extremists designed to instill fear and destroy freedom.”

On Tuesday night, Sen. Cory Gardner tweeted out a call for Kerry to apologize for his remarks. Breitbart News reported that even a staffer from Politico tweeted disbelief over Kerry’s comments.

As the U.S. has agreed to take an increased number of those deemed Syrian refugees, in an interview for NBC Nightly News, Kerry warned that “people shouldn’t be rushing to judgment.” The comments are particularly interesting in light of the discovery that at least two of those who carried out the attack in Paris Friday came to the region after claiming refugee status in Greece alongside throngs of migrants flowing into Europe.

Another man claiming refugee status and residing in Germany was arrested this week in connection to the attacks. If the connection becomes confirmed, he would be the third man involved in the attack to have claimed refugee status.

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana.