Trump-backed candidate traded racist jokes with extremist, screenshot shows
Mark Lamb He didn’t hold back when a member of his citizen militia group used a racist slur in an online exchange. In the screenshot, he appears to be making a racist joke instead.
The Trump-backed Congressional candidate also applauded other discriminatory insults in messages he sent to a member of the vigilante group Border Narcotics Intelligence, according to messages on one of his 2016 campaign social media accounts.
Lamb, the former Pinal County sheriff, has branded himself “America’s Sheriff” and is running to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs in Arizona’s Fifth Congressional District, just southeast of Phoenix. Builder Daniel Keenan is running in the July 21 Republican race priority.
A Facebook user named Nick Steele told Lamb that he and other group members supported him in his first bid for sheriff.
“BNI guys work like the (N-word),” the Facebook user wrote.
“Hahahaha! So you don’t do anything?” Lamb responded by punctuating his direct message with a pair of laughing emojis.
Steele appeared surprised by the sheriff’s response and tried to explain the situation.
“We work like LOL No (N-word) because it’s the right thing to do…” he said.
“You guys work hard,” Lamb replied. “I’m impressed! And grateful!”
The BNI was one of several self-appointed citizen militia groups created to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border that proliferated during the Obama administration and sought to crack down on undocumented immigrants.
Messages are part of a treasure Digital material obtained by The Arizona Republic From a member of Lamb’s first campaign team. This material includes sexually explicit messages that Lamb shared with multiple women after he was elected.
Cumhuriyet’s investigation found the sheriff invited intimate encounters and continued a habit of having sex for years he later denied or tried to conceal it, sometimes with threats or intimidation.
Messages contradict each other Lamb’s faith and family focused campaign platform.
He did not respond to interview requests. No details were given about what BNI was doing on behalf of the sheriff or his affiliation with the group during his May 26 campaign.
Lamb’s former employee, William Hubbard, managed the sheriff’s social media accounts during his first campaign. Hubbard, who is black, said Lamb apologized for making the racist remarks shortly after he posted them.
“He called me to apologize for my answers,” he told The Republic. “He was admitting that he was responding to messages and that his responses were not appropriate.”
Hubbard said Lamb acknowledged minimizing the texts and saying only “ha, ha, ha.”
Hubbard said in a May 15 interview that he told Lamb he shouldn’t have done that and that he was sorry “if that offended you.”
“I said, ‘Okay, forgiven,’ and I think we left it at that,” he said.
Hubbard said his mother grew up in the Jim Crow South. Considering everything his family has been through, he said the racist remarks were inconsequential.
“To me, this was a hiccup for a man who tried so hard to be loved,” Hubbard said. “He felt like he needed every vote, so he decided he wouldn’t mind if someone used that language, whether they felt the same way or not.”
Four years after helping elect Lamb, Hubbard joined efforts to oust the sheriff over what he called ethical concerns, including allegations of sexting and threats against women.
Homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic messages
The racist epithet wasn’t the only discriminatory term Lamb seemed comfortable with in the exchange. He also laughed off homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic comments.
The user named Steele was referring to former Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who was scandalized with caustic remarks about his sexuality after his relationship with a young Mexican national named Jose Orozco became public.
Lamb’s response: “Hahahaha!” He continued: “Looks like karma will get the better of Babeu.”
Some of the discriminatory speeches were included in an information package delivered to the Pinal County Board of Supervisors in 2020 by Hubbard and former Mesa pastor Tim Gustafson, Lamb’s political rival for sheriff.
Gustafson implored the board to review Lamb’s ethical conduct, according to meeting records.
In text exchanges, Steele and Lamb slammed public officials with whom they disagreed politically. In another meeting, they joked about punching an unnamed person in the mouth.
“I want to be there for that,” Lamb responded. “Hahahaha!”
Steele twice referred to a woman with whom he had a political argument on social media as a “stupid bitch” and told Lamb to check his response.
“Hahahaha! You silenced him!” Lamb wrote.
Steele and Lamb had another laugh over a meme suggesting Hillary Clinton is a man.
“Hahahaha!” The lamb replied.
Border vigilante group backs Mark Lamb’s bid for sheriff
In his messages, Steele stated that he had executive powers within the border vigilante group and made clear that “his people” were determined to make Lamb the top law enforcement officer in Pinal County.
Attempts to locate Nick Steele by phone or address were unsuccessful. Facebook user Steele did not respond to messages left on his Facebook account, which has been inactive for years. On this page, which was last active in 2018, Steele posted photos and comments about BNI and other groups. He also posted about guns, law enforcement and “illegal aliens.”
BNI’s former director, Mike Presnell, could not be reached for comment.
In 2016, Facebook user Steele posted on his page an endorsement Lamb received from the Pinal County Legislators Association.
Screenshots of conversations with Lamb in 2016 show that Steele’s avatar matched the image he used as his profile photo.
Facebook user Steele asked Lamb if he knew “there were 6 BNI employees working behind the scenes” supporting his campaign.
“Yes, I can’t thank you enough! Thank you! Please pass on my thanks to everyone else,” Lamb replied.
Neither Facebook user Steele nor Lamb disclosed in the posts what specific work BNI was doing for the sheriff’s campaign.
Border Narcotics Intelligence websites and social media pages appear to be inactive.
The group’s stated purpose was to gather intelligence along the border and pass it on to federal authorities. In practice, its members were often armed, wore paramilitary clothing, and were involved in clashes with immigrants they were trying to detain.
Archived versions of the border law enforcement group’s website show the group selling badges, holsters, pins, challenge coins, patches and belt buckles that resemble official law enforcement items. A gold pin sold with an $80 “associate membership” depicted a six-pointed star encircling the group’s name and with the Great Seal of the United States in the center.
In 2015, Facebook user Steele wrote: An article defending the Confederate flagThe American Civil War, he said, was about “states’ rights,” not slavery.
In messages to Lamb, Steele praised Border Narcotics Intelligence as a “good intelligence agency” and said there “isn’t much they can’t find.”
“What we do is knowledge,” Steele wrote.
Mark Lamb’s links to illegal movements
Lamb has long been linked to far-right vigilante movements. He flirted with the constitutional sheriff movement, an extreme view that sheriffs have absolute legal authority and can ignore directives from other political authorities: In other words, sheriffs have more power than the president.
In 2020, Lamb created a citizens’ group in response to concerns about Black Lives Matter protests. Lamb said he wants to empower Pinal County residents to assist police crowds and enforce the law.
Lamb’s son Cade also joined the militia movement and founded a fringe group called Sonoran Asset Group. Lamb attempted to raise money from his son’s activities. During his unsuccessful 2024 US Senate campaign, he solicited donations based on “shocking video” Cade shot at the border, raising questions about a secret “terrorist camp.”
Robert Anglen is The Republic’s investigative reporter. reach out to him robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X @robertanglen.
Laura Gersony covers national politics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. reach out to him laura.gersony@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @lauragersony.
This article was first published in Arizona Republic: Trump supporter Mark Lamb made racist jokes with extremists: screenshot
