Police on Tuesday arrested 60-year-old Jeffrey Michael Kelly, who they allege was behind three shootings targeted at a Democratic Party campaign office in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Pheonix, that resulted in the building being closed for safety reasons.
On Wednesday during a virtual court appearance Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Neha Bhatia said a grenade launcher, body armor, 120 guns and 250,000 rounds of ammunition had been recovered from Kelly’s home as well as a machine gun from his car. Bhatia said authorities suspect Kelly was “preparing to commit an act of mass casualty.”
Kelly’s attorney, Jason Squires, told the court there were “holes” in the case against his client, adding that he owned the weapons legally and was a sportsman.
The Democratic office in Tempe was hit three times—on September 16 with BB gun pellets shattering a window, then again on September 23 and October 6 with live ammunition. All three incidents took place between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. local time and police said they were searching for a car described as “possibly a 2008-2013 silver Toyota Highlander” in connection with the shootings. According to the probable cause statement, a Toyota Highlander matching one seen in surveillance video was recovered from Kelly’s garage.
Jeffrey Michael Kelly’s booking photo (left) provided by Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and damage he is alleged to have caused while shooting at an Arizona Democratic office (right). Authorities said they recovered 120 guns and 250,000 rounds of ammunition from Kelly’s home.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office/Silent Witness
Kelly was charged with three felony accounts of terrorism as well as two counts of discharging a firearm in city limits, two counts of discharging a firearm at a nonresidence and three criminal damage counts. Squires told the court that Kelly “probably would fit the definition of a genius, and not the type of menacing, cartoonish one as described by the state.”
According to Squires, Kelly was a retired aerospace engineer with no criminal record. His bond was set at $500,000 by a judge, who ordered that if it is paid, the accused should remain under house arrest with electronic monitoring. His next court appearance is scheduled for October 29. Newsweek contacted Squires for comment via his official website on Thursday outside of regular office hours.
The court papers said Kelly had placed anti-Democratic Party signs around his property, which had razor blades and packages of an unidentified white powder labeled “biohazard” attached. They also claimed Kelly posted a number of anti-Democrat messages on his Facebook page.
Newsweek found the Facebook account for a ‘Jeff Kelly’ matching this description, which had a woman holding up President Biden’s severed head as its profile picture along with the caption “This is still funny, right?” It has not been independently confirmed as Jeffrey Michael Kelly’s profile, though it closely matches what was said about his page in court.
The account described Democrats as “the TRUE PARTY OF HATE AND DISCRIMINATION” adding: “if you are one that supports the democrats, then YOU ARE THE RACIST…YOU ARE THE NAZI…YOU ARE THE ONE COMPLICT WITH HATE…YOU! YOU ARE THE THREAT TO THIS COUNTRY!”
In a separate post, Kelly said the 9/11 terrorist attacks were “a result of dEMOCRAT INCOMPETENCE” adding: “NEVER FORGET dEMOCRATS HATE AMERICA..F a c t.”
On January 6, 2021, the day of the U.S. Capitol riot, the account posted support for the “Stop the Steal” movement that claimed the 2020 presidential election had been rigged against President Donald Trump. It also shared what appeared to be an AI-generated picture showing Trump leading a large crowd with American flags overhead and the “An Appeal to Heaven” flag that was used early in the American revolution.
According to the Facebook page, Kelly is from Tempe and lives in Phoenix. The page claims he studied at Arizona State University and was head of AZ Full Auto, which according to its website is a shooting association and division of the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club. Newsweek contacted AZ Full Auto for comment via email and Facebook direct message outside of standard office hours on Thursday.
Fears over political violence in the U.S. have surged following an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Trump on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left one of his supporters dead. Then, on September 15, authorities said they foiled a second assassination plot at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach in Florida.
President Joe Biden expressed confidence this month that the upcoming presidential election would be “free and fair” but added, “I don’t know whether it will be peaceful.”
