Man Threatened to Drive Into Kari Lake Rally: Police Report

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake addresses the media outside the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, on Dec. 22, following two days of testimony in a civil case she filed seeking to overturn the Nov. 8 general election. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

A man threatened to drive his jeep into an Iowa venue where Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was holding a rally several days ago, according to police.

According to a police report (pdf) from the Ankeny Police Department, a man described as “scruffy and big” was threatening the security of Lake at an address that she was attending. Lake was appearing at a venue in Ankeny for a meet-and-greet, officials told the Des Moines Register.

On Feb. 11 at around 5:28 p.m. local time, Ankeny police got a report that a man threatened her security while she was in the building, the police report said. It said the man was acting strange, entered the bar, and said that he was God before threatening to drive “his vehicle through the bar doors” of the venue where Lake was.

The man also told a witness that his favorite color is purple and to “remember my shirt.” The incident report said the man left before police could arrive, and his identity could not be verified.

Sgt. Corey Schneden, spokesperson for the Ankeny Police Department, told the paper that police do not believe a crime was committed and there were no specific threats made. An investigation is currently ongoing, Schneden said.

“Threats from extremists have no place in our society and will do nothing to deter me or my supporters from fighting to save America,” Lake, an Iowa native, said in a statement to the paper after the incident.  “Our resolve has never been stronger.”

Lake’s Campaign Responds

On Twitter, Lake’s War Room account re-posted a news report about the incident, writing in response: “Kari Won’t Back Down.” Earlier, the account wrote that “we are extremely thankful to the men [and] women in uniform that protect our events as well as our top-notch security team for keeping us all safe.”

“If anyone thinks that we will be deterred by threats of violence,” the post added, “they don’t know [Lake] or her supporters very well at all.

During her event, Lake told a crowd that she hopes her election-related lawsuit will be heard before the Supreme Court. Currently, her challenge is being heard by the Arizona Court of Appeals, coming weeks after a Maricopa County judge struck down her lawsuit and said she did not provide enough evidence to show that Maricopa’s Nov. 8 results should be overturned or that she should be declared governor.

“Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence,” the Maricopa judge wrote. Lake, however, has asserted that Election Day tabulation errors and other issues prevented her from securing victory in Maricopa.

In early January, her Democrat opponent, Katie Hobbs, was sworn in as governor of Arizona. Hobbs, a former secretary of state, has already issued a bevy of executive orders since she took office.

“I have just enough Arizona in me and just enough Iowa in me and I’m not going to let them win,” she claimed, according to the Iowa Star, which obtained the police incident report.

An Iowa Star reporter who was at the rally said they saw a large man at the District Venue. The man then yelled out something before he was escorted out of the building, according to the reporter.

“We take threats like this very seriously, which is why we have procedures in place to ensure everyone’s safety,” Lake’s director of security, Scott Masino, said in a statement to the outlet.

In the days before the Nov. 8 midterms, Lake’s campaign said that an envelope containing white powder was sent to her office in Phoenix. Phoenix Fire Department’s hazardous materials team went to her office, her campaign said last year.

And over the past weekend, Lake was back in Arizona and attended Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, where she drew headlines for not standing for the “black national anthem” that was sung before the game.

“We are one nation, under God,” Lake told the Washington Examiner later. “Francis Scott Key’s words ring true for every single American citizen regardless of their skin color. James Weldon Johnson’s ‘Lift Every Voice’ is a beautiful song, but it is not our national anthem,” she added, referring to the so-called “black national anthem.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Lake’s team for comment.