Somehow, although his statement is reprehensible, I expected him to say something worse about the police than a comparison to Nazis. After all, he is a Republican and today’s Republicans pride themselves on saying and doing the most outlandish things.
Gary Kiehne, a hotel owner, complained in a Thursday interview with the Republic about police evacuation checkpoints set up during the devastating Wallow Fire in 2011.
Referring to Nazi SS agents and paramilitary officers, Kiehne said the police were willing to “shoot you and me,” according to the Republic.
Kiehne has apologized for his statement about mass shooters, but his campaign denied the Nazi comparisons he made.
Campaign spokesman Chris Baker said that Kiehne “expressing disappointment about the way the police had acted during the Wallow Fire.”
According to Baker, Kiehne “always wondered how German soldiers in (World War II) could turn on their own people with martial law, but after seeing martial law implemented during the Wallow Fire, he understood how it could happen.”
The Arizona Fraternal Order of Police has called on the candidate to drop out of the race, but Baker refused to comment on the group’s statement.
