Arizona
Mixed Arizona reaction to Trump’s chilling post before ceasefire deal
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A ceasefire announced Tuesday will suspend the war in Iran for two weeks and Iranian officials said they will negotiate with the United States starting Friday.
President Donald Trump agreed to a deal hours after he posted “a whole civilization will die tonight” on social media.
Before news broke about the cease-fire, Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona introduced articles of impeachment Monday against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Ansari, the daughter of Iranian immigrants, is also part of a growing list of Democrats calling for Trump to be impeached.
“Iran is a country of 90 million people. Threatening them with annihilation is a monstrous war crime and puts them and American service members and Americans at grave risk,” Ansari said in a video posted Monday on social media. “As a chief enabler of this illegal war, Pete Hegseth is responsible for directing this insane military action against Iran, which has already killed thousands of civilians, led to the unnecessary deaths of American service members, and displaced over a million people in the region.”
Not everyone with strong ties to Iran agrees with her.
“I don’t see why they should be impeached,” said Amirdanial Azimi. He is the president of the Iranian Students Association at Arizona State University (ASU). He grew up in Iran and has family and friends there right now.
“Speaking to my friends and relatives, I’ve realized that they’re more scared of their own government than they are like external forces like the United States and Israel,” Azimi said.
Azimi predicted Trump would not follow through with his threat to destroy Iran.
“I do take offense, like Iranians do take offense, like they don’t want their civilizations to be wiped off,” Azimi said. “This is the fault of the Iranian regime, their government, because they’ve been chanting death to Israel, death to America for the past years.”
Hessam Rahimian is a refugee turned American citizen. He said he escaped Iran decades ago, where his uncle was murdered and his cousins remain in jail. He said schoolchildren are taught to chant “death to America” every day.
He said he has hundreds of family members and friends still in Iran. In Arizona, Rahimian organizes rallies in support of the war to raise awareness about the reality of life in Iran and the thousands of protesters killed by the Iranian government.
Before the attack was called off, Rahimian said it was challenging to process Trump’s threat to wipe out his home country.
“So he did say that, but he has also said, in the same token today, that the Iranian people are good people, and he will do his best to make sure that they’re safe. So which one you go with, again, I go back to his actions in the past year, it has been against the Islamic regime and not the Iranian people,” Rahimian said. “Would I like for him not to use that language? Of course, absolutely. But we also know that the war talk takes place and they say things to create fear.”
Daniel Rothenberg is a politics and global studies professor at ASU. He said the biggest question is why the U.S. is at war in the first place.
“This is, above all, a war of choice. The U.S. was not attacked. There was no imminent threat from Iran,” Rothenberg said.
Rothenberg said Trump has not clearly explained the point of the war that is costing billions of dollars a day and countless human lives or what a victory would look like.
“Wars tend to end through negotiations, not through military victory,” Rothenberg said. “I mean, what does it mean to wipe out a civilization? And frankly, why would you even make that sort of threat? What’s the purpose?”
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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Two months since the war in Iran began, the conflict shows no clear ending in sight.
President Donald Trump posted on social media that Iran is in a “state of collapse” but offered no additional context for what that means. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
The ripple effects of the war are felt around the world, with changes in gas and fuel prices impacting consumers.
Gas prices climb
In the days before the war began, the average price for a gallon of gas in Arizona was $3.59. On Tuesday, April 28, the average is $4.63. That price is even higher in Maricopa County, sitting at $4.76.
“My husband has a diesel truck, and that’s just outrageous right now. I put premium in my car, so it’s very expensive, too,” said Kathie Nunn, who lives in Phoenix.
Airline costs soar
It’s not just drivers feeling the pinch. Flyers are too.
“I would say roughly 15 or 20 percent more is what I’ve noticed that I have to pay more,” one traveler said.
The week before the war started, the price of jet fuel was $2.50 a gallon. On Tuesday, April 28, the price is $4.26, according to Airlines for America.
“I fly Southwest mostly. I was able to get a straight flight home and two from here. It was higher than normal, for sure,” said Patrick Foy, who was flying from Phoenix to Louisiana.
Major airliners have already raised checked baggage fees because of the rising fuel prices, while some of the smaller, budget airlines are asking the federal government for billions of dollars in assistance.
“It’s obviously frustrating. It affects our family’s budget,” Foy said.
Gas experts have said even when the war in Iran ends, the full relief people see at the pump or when buying a plane ticket will most likely not be immediate.
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Arizona prison chief says incident was a fight, not riot
The incident was a gang-related altercation, not a riot, and staff were not targeted, officials said.
A large-scale fight at the Arizona State Prison Complex–Eyman in Florence, left multiple people injured and at least one person in critical condition, officials said.
Reports of the fight went out on April 26, and according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, the “inmate-on-inmate altercation” was related to gang violence, a news release said.
Ryan Thornell, director of the department, spoke about what he classified as a “disturbance” on April 28 to reporters. He confirmed the incident left several incarcerated people injured and required some to be taken to off-site hospitals.
“Roughly a third of them have come back treated,” Thornell said, adding that about 10 people remained hospitalized as of April 28, with all of them in stable condition except for one person who was still in critical condition.
Thornell did not give an exact number of people involved but described the incident as “sizable.”
He said the fight started in the kitchen and spilled into other areas, contributing to the number of people involved. Thornell said what happened was not a riot and that officials would not classify it that way, because at no time was the motivation to destroy property, and the staff was not targeted.
“It started out as a fight and it continued as a fight and it ended as a fight,” Thornell said.
Executive director of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, Carlos Garcia, called what happened at the prison a “full-blown riot” and the largest in decades.
He also claimed one inmate was left brain dead and that helicopters and ambulances were used to transport the injured.
Garcia and prison reform advocates have raised concerns that high-risk inmates may have been housed in a lower-security unit through classification overrides, similar to issues cited in the 2025 case involving Ricky Wassenaar, who was moved from maximum security to close custody and was later charged in the deaths of three incarcerated men at a Tucson prison.
Thornell said the incident was not related to classification overrides, adding that the people involved were housed in a close-custody unit and were “appropriately” placed.
He also pushed back on concerns about staffing, saying it “had nothing to do with the incident” and that correctional officer vacancy rates are currently below 13% statewide.
The Arizona Cardinals’ top draft pick is favored to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The Arizona Cardinals believe they got a special player in running back Jeremiyah Love. Drafted third overall last week, many considered him the best player in the draft.
That belief is bleeding into the betting markets when it comes to Offensive Rookie of the Year odds.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Love is the favorite to win the award at +250, a little ahead of No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, the new quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders. Mendoza’s odds are +350.
Behind them is Tennessee Titans receiver Carnell Tate at +500, New Orleans Saints receiver Jordyn Tyson at +600, Seattle Seahawks running back Jadarian Price at +750 and Philadelphia Eagles receiver Makai Lemon at +950.
Even Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck, selected in the third round, is a dark horse at +1500.
At +250 odds, Love is considered to have a 28.57% chance at winning the award, about 6% more likely than Mendoza’s 22.22% implied odds.
A running back has not won Offensive Rookie of the Year since Saquon Barkley did in 2018, but Love was the highest running back drafted since Barkley was taken second overall that year.
Since then, it has been quarterbacks or receivers winning the award.
We will see what sort of role Love will have in a pretty crowded running back room and how productive he can be on a team that is expected to struggle.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
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