Republican Attacks Woman Collecting Signatures to Recall Finchem

Oro Valley Police arrested Melvyn Hockwitt, 78, for attacking a young woman at the Oro Valley Public Library who was collecting signatures for the Recall Campaign for Rep. Mark Finchem. A registered Republican, Hockwitt has posted right-wing comments on his Facebook page.

Hockwitt yelled and verbally assaulted the volunteer signature collector and tore up petitions with 17 signatures on them, destroying them on May 14, 2020, according to the volunteer.  Hockwitt is scheduled to appear in Oro Valley Magistrate Court. Call (520) 229-4900 to inquire about police report #V2105092.

The volunteer, Aimer Carrillo, working with La Raza, was not injured. “A man approached me, clearly looking to start something, and he reached and tried to fight for my petition,” she said in a Facebook post. “He showed a lot of aggression and actually ripped my petitions when I was already at 17 signatures for the day. A man came running across the parking lot at that’s when he decided to walk away.”

“Finchem needs to be recalled immediately because he and his supporters clearly show aggression, and violence is not the way to get things done,” she said. “Especially it is not right to damage our right to petition.”

GOP supporter

Hockwitt is a registered Republican who has voted for the GOP in the last four primaries. On his Facebook page, he posted that President Obama was a “fraudulent president,” and made comments comparing gun safety proponents to Hitler.

Hockwitt could not be reached for comment. Calls to Hockwitt went unanswered.  Hockwitt is a member of the Tucson Rough Riders offroad drivers and belongs to a “geocaching” outdoor club where, ironically, he made fond remarks about his teenage grandchildren in a news story.

Recall Finchem campaign manager, Chesney Richter, said, “Our canvassers are experiencing some very aggressive interactions with people in LD11. It’s not something we’re surprised by, but still a terrible situation. Fortunately, the canvasser was not physically injured. The man was yelling and verbally assaulting her, and tried to take the clipboard from her, which is when the petition sheets were torn. In spite of all that, she had the wherewithal to take a picture of him and his license plate. The police were able to find him and cited him with disorderly conduct.”

Finchem is being recalled for inviting supporters to the January 6 riots at the US Capitol and posting supportive messages on his Facebook page. The recall petition is gaining steam, with more than 10,000 signatures. Volunteers must collect 24,775 signatures by the July 8 deadline.

Petition signers must live in Legislative District 11 (Oro Valley, Marana, Casa Grande, and Maricopa), but volunteers can be from anywhere. Visit Recallfinchem.com to support the campaign. Volunteers will get a list of people to call, a script to follow, and a list of locations to sign petitions.