Elected officials, community leaders rally for Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel to resign

BrieAnna J. Frank
Arizona Republic
The Mass Liberation AZ attendees hold signs during a press conference, September 28, 2021, in front of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, 225 W. Madison St., Phoenix, Arizona.

Several dozen people gathered in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon to call for Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel to resign in light of controversies that have plagued her office in recent months.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has been under intense public scrutiny for high-profile investigations of police use of force and prosecutions of Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

Bruce Franks Jr., a leader of Mass Liberation AZ, was among those arrested for participating in an Aug. 9 rally. He was the first to speak at Tuesday's news conference and said Adel's time in office has been "filled with lies, corruption and political persecutions."

Franks was flanked by representatives of other organizations, elected officials and other supporters who each called for Adel's resignation and threatened a recall election if she does not do so.

In a statement to The Arizona Republic on Tuesday afternoon, Adel said she is "honored to serve as the elected Maricopa County Attorney."

"I plan to continue leading this office with a focus on a treatment first approach to prosecution, giving people who want to do better and be better the opportunity to do so, and keeping children and families safe by holding those who seek to do harm accountable."

Controversies plague MCAO; Phoenix billboards support resignation or recall 

Questions over the way Adel's office handled the prosecution of 15 people arrested at a protest last year resulted in a damning external report in August which found communication breakdowns between the office and the case's lead prosecutor, April Sponsel.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office in March was served with a $119 million notice of claim on behalf of dozens of protesters arrested during last year's demonstrations. Adel was one of the defendants named in the claim, which alleged protesters were "wrongfully indicted and maliciously prosecuted."

Adel has dropped charges against the protesters and their cases were dismissed with prejudice.

Last week saw the unveiling of the first of 30 planned billboards calling for Adel to either resign or be recalled, which went up in two spots along Interstate 10.

Brent Whiting (Tomorrow We Vote) speaks during a Mass Liberation AZ press conference, September 28, 2021, in front of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, 225 W. Madison St., Phoenix, Arizona.

Adel returned to the office last week after she had quietly checked herself into a treatment facility on Aug. 29 for anxiety, which she said led to "unhealthy coping behaviors including an eating disorder and alcohol use."

"I am in daily contact with my leadership team while seeking treatment to ensure the important business of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office continues," she wrote in an email at the time. "I am committed to rising to meet this challenge and I thank you for allowing me the grace to do so.”

Franks referenced Adel's statement during the news conference, noting what he described as a lack of compassion for the protesters whose lives were upended by the serious charges they faced.

"Where was the grace all those nights we had to wake up in the middle of the night worried about if we're going to be charged the next day, if we're going to be indicted, if we're actually going to be convicted of these crimes, what about the grace then?" he said. 

Franks is a former Missouri lawmaker who resigned and was fined more than $14,000 by the Missouri Ethics Commission after an investigation found he used campaign money to pay for personal expenses. On Tuesday he said he knows "what it's like to take a step back (from political office) because of your mental health."

"What I don't know is what it's like to mess up lives and damage lives and uproot lives on your way out," he said of Adel.

Bruce Franks, Jr. leads a chant during a Mass Liberation AZ press conference, September 28, 2021, in front of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, 225 W. Madison St., Phoenix, Arizona.

State senator: Adel has 'betrayed our values' 

Ne'Lexia Galloway, executive director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, said on Tuesday that Adel has "lost the trust and confidence of the people she represents."

"This issue has nothing to do with partisan politics and everything to do with the people she was elected to represent," Galloway said, adding that Adel's tenure as county attorney has been "rife with controversy, lack of transparency and accountability."

State Rep. Diego Rodriguez, D-Phoenix, who in June announced his campaign for Arizona attorney general in 2022, said Adel has been at the helm of a "shocking abuse of government power" related to the 2020 demonstrations.

He called for both Adel and Phoenix Police Department Chief Jeri Williams to resign.

"None of us can afford to stand by while a government uses its immense power to abuse the rights of its peaceful citizens who are using their constitutionally granted rights to give voice to their protest and to their grievances."

Ne'Lexia Galloway (Maricopa County Democratic Party) speaks during a Mass Liberation AZ press conference, September 28, 2021, in front of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, 225 W. Madison St., Phoenix, Arizona.

State Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, said accountability measures such as the push for Adel's resignation are "not fun" as a fellow elected official.

"They are uncomfortable, they shine a light on our failures, they shine a light on our weaknesses rather than our successes, so we'd avoid them if we could," he said. "But here's the thing ... they are incredibly important because they keep us honest and they keep us grounded."

Quezada said Adel has "betrayed our values and she has contradicted the duty that she has to uphold justice in her office." He said the public has a responsibility to "acknowledge and to center the experiences of our Black brothers and sisters who have been directly and negatively impacted by the decisions made by this County Attorney's Office."

Brent Whiting of Tomorrow We Vote said voters "have to know what they are up against"  when it comes to the controversies surrounding Adel's office and added that elections have consequences, for better or worse. 

Though he said his organization cannot endorse candidates or formally encourage Adel to resign, he said it stands with Mass Liberation AZ and all those who were arrested and charged during protests last year.

"Don't have your children wind up like Allister Adel," he said. "Wind up like them — the ones who will fight for the rights of Black, brown people all over the United States because they're the ones in history who have moved our movement progressively forward. We are where we are because of people like them — locking them up is a mistake, and there are going to be consequences to that."

Arizona Republic reporter Robert Anglen contributed to this report.

Reach the reporter at bfrank@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8529.  Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank

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