Arizona Democratic Headquarters Fire Was Arson: Investigators​

PHOENIX — Investigators said Friday an early morning fire that destroyed part of the Arizona and Maricopa County Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Phoenix early Friday morning was an act of arson, and the state party chair said it isn’t the first time the party has been threatened in a contentious election cycle.

Phoenix firefighters responded to the fire near Central Avenue and Thomas Road in downtown Phoenix around 1 a.m. Friday and were quickly able to extinguish the blaze, but not before it destroyed the side of the building occupied by the county party.

No one was hurt in the blaze.

Phoenix police spokeswoman Sgt. Mercedes Fortune declined to disclose the evidence that led investigators to conclude the fire was human-caused, telling reporters at a news conference that investigators don’t want to tip off the perpetrator.

"We are working through it. It's very early on," Fortune told reporters. "We do have some good video, we do have some information."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting the Phoenix Fire Investigation Task Force in the probe.

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Felecia Rotellini told news station KPNX the building’s security alarm system went off before the fire alarm.

"This whole election cycle, presidential cycle, we have not been strangers to proposed attacks, by threats towards people and our building," Rotellini told the news station.

Steven Slugocki, the county chair, said files and office equipment, including computers and printers, were destroyed.

"We've lost all of our stuff — computers, equipment, printers, the files, it's all gone," he told news station KPNX.

"We have all of the information. Luckily a lot of it is digital, but we do have a lot of paper copies as well. We're going to have to go through and see everything that's gone," Slugocki said.

Also lost was a collection of political memorabilia accumulated over the decades, including campaign materials for John F. Kennedy, Slugocki said. He requested donations to help the party replace the tools it uses to mobilize voters.

The Arizona Democratic party is like “a small group family,” Slugocki told reporters.

"Everything has come out of that building. Elected officials. All meetings. Everything goes through that office. At some point, every Democrat has been through that building. It's gone," he said.

Party employees have mostly been working remotely since the coronavirus outbreak began in March, Slugocki and Rotellini said.

"We want to know why this happened, and it is something that is simply going to empower us to work harder and keep our eyes on the prize," Rotellini said. "We're definitely not going to let this be a distraction from working as hard as we can to turn Arizona blue in November."

Arizona Republican Chair Kelli Ward condemned the act, saying violence is unacceptable.

"Arizona Republicans look forward to meeting the Democrats on Election Day as opponents on the field of ideas," Ward said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.