Arizona lawmakers wasted no time condemning and mocking their colleague, Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, after she was caught on camera stealing Bibles out of the House members’ lounge.
Rep. Austin Smith dubbed Stahl Hamilton #StealinStephanie.
#StealinStephanie https://t.co/1QrZn5JQln
— Rep. Austin Smith (@azaustinsmith) April 25, 2023
Rep. Justin Heap tweeted, “This is the weirdest story at the Capitol. Rep Stahl Hamilton(D) is an ordained “minister” who hates Bibles. She regularly steals the Bibles out of the Lounge & hides them under chairs, in the fridge, beneath cushions etc. If only the Bible had something to say about stealing…”
This is the weirdest story at the Capitol. Rep Hamilton-Stahl(D) is an ordained "minister" who hates Bibles. She regularly steals the Bibles out of the Lounge & hides them under chairs, in the frig, beneath cushions etc. If only the Bible had something to say about stealing… https://t.co/86IdF8LySb
— Az State Rep. Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) April 26, 2023
Sen. TJ Shope tweeted, “This is all just really bizarre guys. Like, I’m truly just flabbergasted here,” in response to reporter David Caltabiano’s tweets on the thefts:
This is really weird and disturbing… https://t.co/tD0AFB2Tky
— Rep. Austin Smith (@azaustinsmith) April 25, 2023
According to Caltabiano, “with Bibles vanishing in the House’s members-only lounge. It prompted the security team to place a camera to catch the most unlikely culprit: an ordained minister who’s also a Democrat state lawmaker (Stahl Hamilton).”
Pro-Tempore Speaker Travis Grantham told Caltabiano that in the video Stahl Hamilton looks like someone “who’s got some purpose and some intent, and they know they’re doing something bad…For an ordained minister to do that, again, it’s nonsensical. I have no clarity as to why it happened.”
Some Republican legislators have already begun private discussions about censuring Stahl Hamilton for “disorderly conduct and theft.”