Arizona State Representative John Gillette (R-Kingman) called the prosecution of an American cattle rancher accused of killing an illegal alien for trespassing on his property a ‘travesty of justice.’
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly (pictured above, left) is on trial for allegedly shooting and killing an illegal alien from Mexico who trespassed on his property located near the border.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Representative Gillette (pictured above, right) criticized Kelly’s trial and the prosecuting attorney’s treatment of his wife.
“The prosecution of an Arizonan border rancher for the ‘murder’ of an illegal alien trespasser is a travesty of justice.” He added, “The worthless attorney who attacked his elderly wife on the stand should be ashamed.”
Gillette’s post included a video clip from Kelly’s trial. He spoke about how the defendant’s wife, Wanda Kelly, was harassed and described the prosecuting attorney as “badgering” an “elderly woman.”
He also said, “Her husband is being tried for murder in Santa Cruz County, defending himself from illegal aliens crossing his property, and when you watch the questioning, this attorney is asking her specifics about a situation, number of shots fired, what her feelings [were]. It’s obvious this attorney has never been in a heated situation where you are firing a weapon.
“You are under duress, you’re not remembering these things,” Gillette said; adding, “This is probably the most traumatic thing this woman has ever been through in her life and here she is, a grandmother, an Arizona resident being badgered by this worthless attorney that has no idea what this woman has gone through.”
After the video clip of Mrs. Kelly’s questioning by the prosecution, Gillette explained, “You see how they’re treating this woman, but the illegal aliens, they’re treated like gold, they’re given phones, money, everything else. This is an American citizen living on Arizona property that they own close to the border and they have to deal with this every single day. Now they’re being prosecuted…[t]his is what you get when you hire and elect Democrats. Stop voting blue.”
Illegal aliens crossing the Arizona border have been a tremendous problem for residents. While current legislation allows citizens to use force to remove trespassers from their property, legislators seek to strengthen the law with HB 2843. State Representative Justin Heap (R-Mesa), the bill’s sponsor, told the House Judiciary in mid-February that “you have the right to trespass anyone from property that you own and if necessary to use the threat of physical force or physical force to remove the person from your property.”
However, he said HB 2843 closes a “loophole” that is creating problems “for farmers and ranchers who may own, for instance, a large tract of land but don’t have their house in the immediate vicinity….” The clarification from HB 2843 will help farmers and ranchers remove trespassers from their land that does not have a residential structure.
After the bill’s recent passage by the House and Senate, it was transferred to Governor Katie Hobbs on Tuesday where it was vetoed.
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Debra McClure is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Debra on X / Twitter.
Photo “State Rep. John Gillette” by State Rep John Gillette and photo “George Alan Kelly” is by Wanda Kelly.
