Two women tied to Patriot Movement AZ arrested after incident at Arizona mosque
Two women affiliated with the group Patriot Movement AZ (PMAZ) were arrested Thursday, March 15, on felony charges with a possible hate crimes enhancement for an incident earlier this month at a mosque in Tempe, Arizona.
Police in Tempe told the 澳彩开奖 that Tahnee Gonzales and Elizabeth 鈥淟iz鈥 Dauenhauer were arrested at about 3 p.m. Arizona time on suspicion of burglary for the incident at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.
Gonzales posted video of the March 4 episode live to her Facebook page, showing her and Dauenhauer entering the grounds of the mosque with three of Gonzales鈥檚 children and two dogs in tow. The group took literature from a gated-off area of the mosque and then began shouting at a man who came out of a building. Gonzales could be heard on the video shouting anti-Muslim slurs at the man.
Tempe police spokesperson Det. Lily Duran told the 澳彩开奖 that the burglary charge is considered a class 6 felony and that police will be recommending a hate crimes enhancement for sentencing should the women be found guilty. Duran said Arizona has no independent hate crimes charges but that it could added as an enhancement for sentencing.
In the video, which has since been removed from Gonzales鈥檚 page, the group can be seen encountering a sign on a gate at the mosque that read 鈥淣o Firearms Allowed.
Gonzales paused and said to her son: 鈥淚鈥檝e got to take my gun 鈥 my 鈥 out of my backpack. Go take it back. Go take it back to the 鈥斺
She muttered something else to her son. Then upon entering through the gate, which also had a 鈥淣o Trespassing鈥 sign on it, she told Dauenhauer, 鈥淚 had my 鈥 I had Betty on me, so I had to put Betty away.鈥
Perhaps the most disturbing element of the video, was that Gonzales repeatedly encouraged her children to use anti-Muslim slurs and rhetoric while they were at the mosque.
As she filmed the group taking leaflets and other items from outside the mosque, one of the children could be heard saying something about how things smelled.
鈥淓xactly!鈥 Gonzales said. 鈥淭hey smell like goats.鈥
Gonzales then picked up a handful of items that were in a box, which she said appeared to be air fresheners.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to wipe poop all over these,鈥 Gonzales said, laughing. She also admonished her children not to touch anything because of 鈥済erms.鈥
Dauenhauer was shown on the video removing pieces of paper from a bulletin board announcing upcoming events in the local Islamic community.
鈥淭his is the infiltration of the Arabic Muslim coming in and destroying America,鈥 Gonzales said in the video. 鈥淢uslims are nothing but devil Satan worshipers.鈥
Gonzales also told her son, who is middle school aged, to help Dauenhauer take pamphlets from the mosque.
鈥淭ry to grab two of everything on here,鈥 Dauenhauer told the boy, pointing to a rack of leaflets. 鈥淪tart from the bottom.鈥
After putting the items they鈥檇 taken in their vehicle, they decided to walk around the buildings some more. They let a small dog they had with them roam the grounds unleashed.
鈥淕ood job. Good job, Peanut,鈥 Gonzales said to the dog as it peed on a tree on the grounds of the mosque. 鈥淲ay to pee on that. 鈥 We should have brought all the dogs. They all could have peed all over.鈥
Gonzales and Dauenhauer looked at what appeared to be Arabic writing on the side of the mosque, and though they couldn鈥檛 read it, speculated about what it said.
鈥淚t says 鈥業 love Satan and I worship the Antichrist,鈥欌 Dauenhauer joked.
At one point, the group walked by a van with markings that read 鈥淚CC Funeral Procession.鈥 Gonzales鈥檚 son climbed up on the rear bumper to peer inside.
鈥淕et off that,鈥 Gonzales told her son. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what filth is on there.鈥
鈥淵eah, dead Muslims have been on there,鈥 Dauenhauer said.
鈥淵eah, goats 鈥 all their sex goats in there,鈥 Gonzales said.
聽A few moments later, a man stepped out of one of the buildings on the campus. The group鈥檚 dog ran up to greet him, and the man leaned down to pet it.
鈥淪tay away from our dogs, please! Don鈥檛 eat them!鈥 Gonzales shouted at the man. 鈥淗ey, don鈥檛 touch! Don鈥檛 touch! Don鈥檛 pet! No touch!鈥
鈥淧eanut, get back here,鈥 Gonzales said, snapping her fingers. 鈥淭hey eat you! C鈥檓on, they eat you. Get away from 鈥榚m.鈥
Gonzales began to berate the man with slurs, saying that Islam was anti-American and that 鈥減edophile runs deep in the Muslim community.鈥 She told him that 鈥渨e the people鈥 were coming after them and that she would 鈥渆xpose鈥 them.
鈥淵ou guys encourage marriages of 9-year-old children. You guys even rape goats. That鈥檚 how sick they are,鈥 Gonzales shouted at the man.
She then mentioned her young daughter, who was with her.
鈥淟ook, my daughter, in Sharia, she would be a bride. That鈥檚 how sick your guys鈥檚 鈥" she shouted before moving onto something else.
She continued shouting at the man, but the video eventually ended midway through her confrontation with him.
In another video posted live to Facebook later that day, Gonzales started asking her young daughter about Sharia law, an Islamic concept that has been the basis of lots of conspiracy theories in the anti-Muslim fringe.
鈥淎t my age,鈥 the girl said to the camera, 鈥渢he old men are allowed to marry young kids at my age.鈥
鈥淪ee that? Good, I鈥檓 glad you know,鈥 Gonzales told her daughter. 鈥淜eep children informed and aware so that they don鈥檛 be sucked into the evils that lurk around in our own communities and our own backyard.鈥
Gonzales then went on to lecture her viewers on Facebook with her anti-Muslim slurs, saying that Muslims rape boys, girls and goats.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l rape anything!鈥 the girl chimed in.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l rape anything,鈥 Gonzales repeated back to her.
Video of the incident remained on Gonzales鈥 Facebook page for several days.
Then on Tuesday, March 13, the website HateHurts, which is run by the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, posted about the video under the headline, 鈥淭eaching Hate: AZ Patriot group trespasses inside mosque, encouraging children to vilify Muslims.鈥
From there, attention to the video snowballed, being picked up by the , and other news outlets.
Police told the 澳彩开奖 they had been investigating the incident since March 5, which a police report was filed. It鈥檚 unclear who filed the report.
The 澳彩开奖 had reached out to the Islamic Community Center of Tempe on March 5 after seeing the video online. At the time, a woman who spoke to the 澳彩开奖 said the mosque was unaware of the video and therefore could not comment.
The 澳彩开奖 sent a copy of the video to the woman at the Islamic Community Center that same day.
On Thursday, the imam of the mosque told the that he had 鈥渕ixed emotions鈥 about the arrests.
鈥淚 really hate for people to be in trouble with the law,鈥 Ahmad Al-Akoum told the newspaper. 鈥淗owever, I think the lesson needs to be taught to everybody who feels they鈥檙e entitled to infringe on other people鈥檚 properties and rights. People need to learn.鈥
The group that the women are tied to, Patriot Movement AZ, has tried to distance itself from them in recent days after their actions began to spread online.
In a Facebook post on Monday, March 12, PMAZ wrote:
Recently two persons who had previously been affiliated with us have crossed a line that violates our principles and beliefs.
They continue to show up where we are, but they do not represent us. They are not part of us.
PMAZ stands firmly against racism, bigotry, and anyone who harrasses people based on sexual orientation. Those representing PMAZ are at all times law-abiding, too.
The actions of one bad apple makes all of us look bad. It is extremely disappointing and while we cannot tell anyone how to behave, we also need to have clear separation and call out bad behaviors.
PMAZ declined to mention the names of the people they were talking about, but on Wednesday, March 14, the organization wrote a follow up post disclosing it was Gonzales and Dauenhauer.
PMAZ said in multiple Twitter posts that although the group had no formal membership roster, it had considered Dauenhauer to be a member, though not Gonzales.
Gonzales, however, had been involved in past PMAZ activities, including a at the state capitol, where the group was accused of shouting things like 鈥渋llegal鈥 and 鈥済o home鈥 at numerous people, including legislative staffers and a Navajo lawmaker.
Both women were also present during a PMAZ protest outside a speech given by Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday, March 11. Gonzales had two of her children with her at the protest and could be seen in online videos encouraging them to shout at Sanders supporters.
The protest included multiple members of PMAZ and allies from California, including a patriot activist who recently said he was prepared 鈥渢o die right here and now鈥 and become a 鈥渕artyr鈥 for his cause.
[[This post was聽updated on March 16]]