The Democratic Party’s state and county headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, was targeted in an arson attack on Friday.
Luckily, no one was injured in the early-hours blaze that ripped through and decimated the part of the building occupied by the Maricopa County Democratic Party. The state party’s HQ suffered minor damage.
The inferno destroyed decades’ worth of gathered voter and candidate information and memorabilia, according to local news reports.
It was definitely set deliberately, Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Mercedes Fortune told reporters.
The arsonists currently remain at large.
Fortune said “we do have some good video” of the attack. The investigation is ongoing.
Steven Slugocki, chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, described the damage as “heartbreaking.”
“Devastated. We lost our side of the building at the Maricopa County Democratic Party,” he tweeted Friday. “The fire completely destroyed everything.”
“We are all still in a state of shock,” Slugocki said via a statement. “Knowing that this fire was set deliberately is disturbing news, but I am relieved no one was injured.”
Most staffers have worked remotely since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
No one had entered the building for several days, said Slugocki.
Footage shared on the Maricopa County Democratic Party’s Twitter feed showed how its HQ had been “completely ruined” in the fire:
The Arizona Democratic Party remained defiant.
“The flags are still standing and so are we,” it tweeted:
Former Democratic 2020 presidential contender Pete Buttigieg tweeted his condolences, recalling his time working in the office in 2004:
Kate Gallego, the Democratic mayor of Phoenix, said she was “heartbroken” by the news: