| NEWS | Mitchell’s Mudslinging Owners of D-backs, Cardinals behind racist attack ad in Maricopa County Attorney race. BY KATYA SCHWENK Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals, as well as other local business tycoons — is facing criticism for a racially charged attack ad that targets the campaign manager for Mitchell’s opponent. Mitchell, a Republican seeking elec- tion to a full term as the county’s top pros- ecutor, has tried to make Bruce Franks Jr., a prominent activist and former Missouri state lawmaker, a liability for Democrat Julie Gunnigle. Franks manages Gunnigle’s campaign. But recent yard signs take the attacks on A Franks to a new low. The signs feature a mugshot of Franks and cite four criminal charges. The image appears with the words “Julie Gunnigle’s poor judgement” and a demand for “law and order.” But what the signs don’t say is that Frank’s arrest and the criminal charges were part of a sweeping corruption scandal that engulfed the county attorney’s office, prompted the resignation of Mitchell’s predecessor, and paved the way for Mitchell to get the job. In October 2020, Franks was one of a group of demonstrators against police violence booked in a mass arrest by the Phoenix Police Department. More than a dozen, including Franks, were charged as a criminal street gang for their use of a political action committee supporting Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell — and largely funded by owners of the political slogan and faced a slate of bogus criminal charges. After months of public outcry, the charges against Franks and the other protesters were dropped. But the fallout from the scandal has continued. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was investigating the Phoenix Police Department and has looked closely at the gang charges protesters faced. When Mitchell took office, she fired April Sponsel, who was lead prosecutor on the case, and has said she felt the protesters were “overcharged.” Those dropped charges are displayed on the signs, right beside Franks’ mugshot: assault on an officer, resisting arrest, unlawful assembly. The signs cite a report, ironically, by ABC15 journalist Dave Biscobing, whose investigations exposed that the charges against the protesters were fictitious. Last week, the signs drew sweeping criticism, including condemnation from multiple state lawmakers. “This attack is racist, disgusting trash,” former state representative Diego Rodriguez wrote on Twitter. Mitchell has distanced herself from the signs — highlighting that they were not the work of her campaign but rather that of the Arizona Liberty Coalition, a polit- ical action committee working to elect her. Her campaign did not respond to New Times’ inquiries, but it did provide a state- ment to the Arizona Republic’s Elvia Diaz: “Our campaign isn’t responsible for the signs. We don’t condone the content and Katya Schwenk Supporters of County Attorney Rachel Mitchell targeted Bruce Franks Jr. (photo) with “racist, disgusting” campaign ads. plaster it around with no context, no anything, in a predominantly white community that I live in — that’s dangerous,” he said. Gunnigle blasted her opponent for the Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill is a contributor to Arizona Liberty Coalition. hope they are taken down.” The Arizona Liberty Coalition’s largest donors are Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick and local auto tycoon Larry Van Tuyl, who together provided the PAC with $200,000 of its $369,700 total funds raised this election cycle. Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill and Bennett Dorrance, one of the founders of Scottsdale-based luxury real estate devel- oper DMB Associates, chipped in $25,000 each. The coalition, the Cardinals, and Diamondbacks did not reply to requests for comment from Phoenix New Times. ‘Inciting Hate’ Franks told New Times that he believed the signs reflected on Mitchell directly, even if a PAC created them. “How are we supposed to believe that she can lead this office in a way that truly benefits Maricopa County residents? Specifically Black and brown residents,” he asked. The signs appeared near his home in a Christian Petersen / Getty Images Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick gave big to the PAC behind the racist political ads. conservative, largely white suburb in the East Valley, Franks said. By the time a reporter visited last week, the signs were gone. But another neighbor confirmed to New Times that the signs were placed in the area. The signs are a real threat and safety concern for his family, Franks said. “You take a mugshot of a Black man and signs. “First, to personally attack campaign staff incites hate, it drives misinformation, and it compromises their safety,” Gunnigle said in a video posted to social media. “Second, this person was exonerated.” She compared the signs to ads featuring Willie Horton, which stoked racist fearmon- gering in the 1988 presidential election. Gunnigle noted the irony that the scandal around the charges Franks and others faced was the driving force in the months-long and ultimately successful campaign by local activists demanding that former County Attorney Allister Adel resign. Mitchell, a longtime prosecutor in the office, was appointed to replace Adel in April. Franks said that his arrest — and the bogus gang charges — was a harrowing experience and one that shaped his under- standing of the power of the county attor- ney’s office. “I was facing decades for exercising my First Amendment rights. And I saw what this office tried to do. I saw the politicos that support this office and the politicos that don’t want to speak up. I saw what they tried to do to us, how they tried to silence us, and how they tried to mess up our lives,” he said. ‘Drag My Name Through the Mud’ Before the latest attack, Mitchell had made Franks a focus of her campaign. He is Gunnigle’s highest-paid campaign consultant, according to campaign finance records, and is a well-known activist in Phoenix. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Franks gained national >> p 11 9 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES OCT 27TH–NOV 2ND, 2022