Police say the suspect who allegedly broke into to Arizona Democrat gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs’ campaign headquarters was “known to officers” and allegedly committed other burglaries near her office.
On Thursday, NBC News reported there does not seem to be evidence that politics were the motivation behind Daniel Mota Dos Reis, 36, alleged burglary at Hobbs’s headquarters in Phoenix, AZ. Hobbs’s campaign put out a statement on the matter that invoked her Republican opponent Kari Lake, and the Arizona Democrat Party subsequently blamed Lake for the incident, claiming that she somehow incited it.
Phoenix Police Department (PPD) Sergeant Phil Krynsky told Breitbart News in a statement that the department “cannot speculate on motive,” though he did note that “the suspect was known to officers in the area and was arrested for unrelated commercial burglaries in the area.”
PPD said that Dos Reis was already in custody for another alleged commercial burglary when he was arrested, as Reuters’s Gram Slatterly reported. An officer saw a news report that showed surveillance of the Hobbs assailant and recognized him as Dos Reis.
Former Arizona Republic reporter Megan A. Taros tweeted that she lived in the same apartment complex as Dos Reis. She asserted that he “has a lot of problems” and said she does not believe “politics played a role.”
“Really cringe to watch the unhinged takes on Daniel Mota Dos Reis,” she wrote in one post.”I lived in the same complex as him for a while, saw him all the time, big talker. I’m not going to share what’s not mine to share, but anyone who thinks politics played a role needs to log off.”
“Dude has a lot of problems,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet responding to another user. “There’s lots of stories out there from people in my old neighborhood about odd/deviant behavior. He didn’t seem to have it together.”
When another user asked what his political affiliation is, Taros said she thinks he is apolitical.
“I doubt he’s either,” she said. “There were plenty of convos with neighbors where he could’ve made it known and he was a ‘I don’t pay attention to politics’ guy. I’d be surprised if he had a motive that makes sense honestly.”
Lake blasted Hobbs, the Arizona Democrat Party, and the media at a press conference Thursday.
“She put out a defamatory statement, and you all ran with it,” Lake said. “You didn’t do your journalistic duty; it was malpractice of journalism like I’ve never seen before, and it was an effort, I believe, to influence this election.”
Lake noted that the statement from DeMont came after a poll released earlier in the day showed the Republican with an 11-point lead.
“We’re 11 points up. You’re in a frenzied panic because your chosen candidate is not winning. You didn’t want to cover this, so you had to run with a completely garbage, bullshit story,” said the former Fox 10 Phoenix anchor. “Shame on each and every one of you.”
Lake also joked that she had evidence Hobbs broke into her campaign earlier in the day before presenting an image of a chicken. Lake’s campaign has associated Hobbs with chickens because she refuses to debate.
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