Arizona

Arizona bill targeting 'swatting' could raise First Amendment concerns

Published

2 years ago

February 5, 2024

Arizona bill targeting 'swatting' could raise First Amendment concerns

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“Swatting” — falsely reporting a crime to draw an aggressive police response — is an extraordinarily harmful and potentially lethal prank that should be very illegal.

It has also become a popular tactic to harass public officials. In early January, police were called to respond to a reported shooting at the home of Tanya Chutkan, a federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., presiding over one of the federal criminal cases against former President Donald Trump. The prosecutor in the same case against Trump, Jack Smith, also fell victim to a swatting attempt: Police in Maryland raced to Smith’s home on Christmas Day in response to a false report that he had shot his wife. Rusty Bowers, the former speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, was targeted by swatting in recent weeks, too. An anonymous caller falsely reported a murder inside Bowers’s house and said there was a pipe bomb inside.

In the department of “bad facts make bad law,” the Arizona Legislature is currently considering a bill aimed at targeting swatting, but that could sweep further and raise concerns for public interest news reporting and free speech more broadly. H.B. 2508 would criminalize “initiating or circulating a report of bombing, fire, offense or other emergency knowing that such report is false and intending … that it will cause public alarm or an emergency response.”

The bill does not, however, define the term “public alarm” and it is not otherwise defined in Arizona law. This may be a problem, since when left open to interpretation, “caus[ing]” public alarm could cover a wide range of activities, including those of journalists. As currently drafted, the bill could be read to apply to a journalist who “circulate[s]” a false report about an emergency, knowing it to be false but adding context or an explanation to it. Or, it could be interpreted to apply to journalists or others writing satirical or parodic social media posts or news articles about phony emergencies that someone may inadvertently take seriously. (Granted, the statute does require “intent” to cause public alarm, but an aggressive prosecutor could still make the case that the act itself implies the requisite intent.)

This concern is not hypothetical. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Louisiana man published a post on Facebook comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to a zombie apocalypse movie and saying that law enforcement officers would shoot infected people “on sight.” In an apparent reference to the actor that played the conquering hero in zombie movie “World War Z,” the man ended the post with “#weneedyoubradpitt.” Despite his repeated attempts to explain that this was a joke, the local sheriff’s office arrested the man for “terrorizing” and put him in jail. Though the charges against him were eventually dropped, the man filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, alleging that his First and Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the man’s post was entitled to First Amendment protection and there had been no probable cause to support his arrest.

Similar issues have arisen with respect to the scope of the Federal Communications Commission’s broadcast “hoax” rule, which permits the FCC to punish licensees who deliberately broadcast false reports. It was implemented in the early 1990s after a few incidents of dumb pranks by shock jocks and the like. Not all were frivolous, though. One, KSHE radio’s report of a nuclear attack on the U.S. was a bona fide political statement by a DJ in response to callers urging the U.S. to drop an atomic bomb in the first Iraq war. The FCC has, however, interpreted the hoax rule narrowly and requires that the broadcast actually cause manifest harm in the world before bringing an enforcement action.

Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for the Arizona bill: lose the terms “circulating” and “public alarm.” That would narrow the bill to its intended purpose — actual swatting — and limit unintended consequences, like giving the state the authority to go after a modern “War of the Worlds”-type broadcast. If only all things were that simple.

The Technology and Press Freedom Project at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press uses integrated advocacy — combining the law, policy analysis, and public education — to defend and promote press rights on issues at the intersection of technology and press freedom, such as reporter-source confidentiality protections, electronic surveillance law and policy, and content regulation online and in other media. TPFP is directed by Reporters Committee attorney Gabe Rottman. He works with RCFP Staff Attorney Grayson Clary and Technology and Press Freedom Project Fellow Emily Hockett.

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Arizona

Fruit-flavored cocaine being sold to young people, Arizona official warns

Published

12 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Fruit-flavored cocaine being sold to young people, Arizona official warns

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona’s attorney general is sounding the alarm over a new illegal drug being marketed toward kids and young women.

The Attorney General’s Office says law enforcement agencies in Arizona are seeing an increase of fruit-flavored cocaine in the illegal drug market.

Attorney General Kris Mayes says dealers are marketing the flavored drug toward younger people and women, attempting to lure new users to using cocaine.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is issuing a warning of fruit-flavored cocaine being marketed to young people.(Arizona Attorney General’s Office)

Mayes said the drug is being sold in flavors like piña colada, strawberry, coconut and banana, which may appeal to children. She added that illegal drugs like cocaine often contain the deadly drug fentanyl.

“We want everyone to stay safe and avoid the harms that come from using illegal drugs,” Mayes said.

The warning from the AG’s office comes after a man was sentenced in Pima County last month for selling fruit-flavored cocaine.

A release from Mayes’ office says that on July 17, Jaden Alfredo Covarrubias sold about 1.55 pounds of cocaine to another person after advertising his access to coconut, strawberry and banana flavored forms. Mayes said Covarrubias offered to sell the drugs on social media platforms like WhatsApp.

Jaden Alfredo Covarrubias was setenced to 1.75 years in prison and ordered to pay fines after... — Jaden Alfredo Covarrubias was setenced to 1.75 years in prison and ordered to pay fines after selling fruit-flavored cocaine in Pima County.(Arizona Attorney General’s Office)

Covarrubias was sentenced on Nov. 24 to 1.75 years in prison. He was ordered to pay $4,500 to the State Anti-Racketeering Revolving Fund and $300 for investigative costs to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

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Arizona

Volunteer pilots bring Santa, gifts to Title I schools on Utah-Arizona border

Published

24 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Volunteer pilots bring Santa, gifts to Title I schools on Utah-Arizona border

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Santa Claus traded his sleigh for small planes Wednesday as 20 volunteer pilots from Angel Flight West’s Utah wing flew hundreds of miles to deliver Christmas gifts and school supplies to two Title I schools on the Utah-Arizona border.

The annual “Santa Flight” brought toys, winter coats, backpacks and more than 500 books donated by PBS Utah to about 500 students from Water Canyon Elementary in Hildale, Utah, and Cottonwood Elementary in Colorado City, Arizona. The schools gathered at the Colorado City airport to greet Santa, Mrs. Claus, some elves and the pilots.

“Well, this is just excitement,” said Brad Jolley, principal at Water Canyon Elementary in Hildale. “I mean, you look at the faces of the kids, you see smiles, and just a great opportunity, great atmosphere.”

“This is the first time that our two schools in our valley have come together and done an activity,” said Natalie Hammon, principal at Cottonwood Elementary in Colorado City. “So Santa Flight has really helped us unite our valley and let our two schools work together for a great cause.”

The donations were made possible by community groups and sponsors, including the John C. Kish Foundation, Bank of Utah and the Leavitt Group. Lou Rossi, Utah Wing leader for Angel Flight West, said the effort reflects the generosity of pilots and donors during a tough economic time.

Angel Flight West is best known for providing free air transportation for patients traveling long distances for medical care. Volunteer pilot Steve Booth said the holiday mission is just one way to give back.

“For somebody that might need a four- or five-hour car ride after a cancer treatment, a 45 (-minute) or one-hour flight just makes a huge, huge difference in their life,” Booth said.

The Santa Flight tradition began in 2000 and rotates among rural schools each year.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Arizona

Arizona State men’s basketball cruises past NAU for 8th win

Published

2 days ago

December 10, 2025

Press Room

Arizona State men’s basketball cruises past NAU for 8th win

The Arizona State Sun Devils were looking to improve on the win they chalked up three days ago against Oklahoma. They did, sort of.

ASU added a 73-48 win over visiting Northern Arizona on Dec. 9 at Desert Financial Arena for its fifth win in the last six outings.

Defense has been the team’s focus in the last two weeks, and that showed as the Sun Devils (8-2) held their opponent to a season-low point total. Coach Bobby Hurley said the team’s goal was to hold the Lumberjacks (4-5) to under 49 points. Mission accomplished there.

ASU shot 50% 26-for-52) for the game, with an even split, 15-for-30 in the first and 11-for-22 in the second half. NAU shot 33.3% (17-for-51), which included a 5-for-26 from long distance.

What went right

Got scoring punch from the bench: ASU is 8-0 when getting more points from its bench than the opponent, and 0-2 when it does not. In this one, it wasn’t even close as the Sun Devils had a significant advantage here, 33-3. Allen Mukeba had 10, Anthony “Pig” Johnson nine, and Marcus Adams 8.

Rebounded better: This is an area where the Sun Devils have made noticeable strides in the last two games, and this was an opponent ASU should have bested on the board because it was one of the few where they have had a size advantage. The Sun Devils won the battle 41-15, with a 10-4 edge on the offensive glass and a 31-21 advantage on the defensive boards. Santiago Trout had eight, with Mukeba, Andrija Grbovic, and Massamba Diop each collecting six.

Used inside presence: The 7-0 freshman Diop had a career-high 19 points on an 8-for-10 showing from the field. Hurley said his team didn’t go to him enough

What went wrong

A few too many turnovers: ASU had 13, which is too many against a .500 foe. NAU had 10 steals, and it wasn’t exactly pressuring the ball. It was the area in which Hurley was most disappointed. Diop had four. The Sun Devils were fortunate NAU only manufactured 12 points off those turnovers. NAU also had 13 turnovers, and ASU scored 23 points off those.

A bit sluggish in the first half: ASU ended the first half up 35-26. It was up 11-2, then faltered a bit, and the Lumberjacks actually went ahead 14-13 with 10:40 left in the half.

Personnel notes

ASU has used the same starting lineup for all 10 games this season. A total of 10 athletes entered the game and all of them scored. The last person to score was Moe Odum, who came in averaging 18.9 points per game. His only two points came at the line with 30 seconds left.

Up next

The Sun Devils are back on the road for another neutral site game, the fifth of the season. ASU will square off with Santa Clara (8-2) in the Jack Jones Hoop Hall Classic at 5 p.m. on Dec. 13 at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. ASU is 3-1 in neutral-site games while the Broncos are 1-1.

The teams played last season with ASU prevailing 81-74.

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