Arizona Sheriff Running for Congress Caught Laughing Along to Racial Slurs With Border Vigilantes, Then Investigators Found the Explicit Photos and It Got Much Worse
A former Arizona sheriff running for Congress has found himself in the spotlight, but not for the right reasons.
Mark Lamb was the sheriff of Pinal County from 2017 to 2024. He’s running as a Republican for District 5 in Arizona.
But this week, a series of text messages revealed sexual misconduct allegations, according to KVOA. He is also accused of trading racist jokes with a border vigilante, according to AZ Central.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Lamb ahead of writing this story to see if he wanted to set the record straight about anything. He has not responded.
KVOA reported Lamb is facing allegations of sexting and sending explicit photos to multiple women. The Pinal County Attorney’s Office said Lamb was being investigated.
According to AZ Central, there were dozens of exchanges, explicit chats, and sexual images that appeared to come from Lamb’s personal cellphone number.
It also appeared he used his personal social media accounts to message several women before and after he took over as sheriff.
“All I can tell you is how I know the man, and again, ever since I’ve known him, he’s been a very professional, genuine person, especially as a politician,” Kirk Fiehler, the Pinal County Republican Party Chairman, said. He told KVOA he’s known Lamb for years.
Women told AZ Central some of the pictures sent from Lamb included a close-up picture of a penis with an offer to measure it; a similar penis picture he showed off on his phone; a photo of an unidentified couple having intercourse with a texting the recipient to “think about that being you,” punctuated with a devil emoji.
The pictures have not been independently reviewed by Atlanta Black Star.
Pinal County Democratic Party Chair Jennifer Hilsbos told KVOA she’s not surprised.
“They were sort of the secret that wasn’t a secret when I moved to the county in 2019,” she told KVOA. “I have seen the sheriff exhibit behaviors that most men would no longer consider appropriate out in public, cat-calling women.”
But that’s not all.
Messages recovered from Lamb’s 2016 social media campaign screenshotted by AZ Central showed Lamb cheering other discriminatory slurs. The messages were to a member of the vigilante group Border Narcotics Intelligence.
AZ Central reported a Facebook user told Lamb that he and other group members were supporting him in his first bid for sheriff.
“BNI guys work like n—–s,” the user wrote, according to AZ Central.
“Hahahaha! So you don’t do anything?” Lamb replied. AZ Central added he punctuated his message with a pair of laughing emojis.
“LOL No we work like n—–s cuz it’s the right thing to do…” the user replied.
“You guys do work hard,” Lamb messaged back. “I’m impressed! And grateful!”
BNI is a self-appointed citizen militia group that formed to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border.
Lamb has publicly denied sexual misconduct claims.