Brian Miller/Pima County GOP Update.

I know the whole SWAT shooting thing is so two months ago (to the day, as it turns out), but repercussions are ongoing.

Do you remember the story? Our SWAT went to a house to serve a warrant, a man inside is waiting for them with a rifle and he gets shot and dies.

The Chairman of the Pima County Republican party immediately calls it a murder, says that we are all __________ ___________ (the man who was shot in the warrant) and calls for everyone to show up at a vigil at the man's house.

In recent news, the Executive Board of the Party asked Miller to resign, based on these outlandish and inflammatory statements. He refused, saying that he would have them all voted out and now the issue rests on the backs of the Precinct Committeemen.

Whatever the result of all this will be, it will be less than graceful.

Here is the latest from the Pima GOP:

Pima GOP Statement Regarding Brian Miller

The role of the Republican Party is clear: to elect candidates and support those candidates once elected. The recent statements and actions of Chairman Brian Miller have not served to further those goals, but rather the opposite. Mr. Miller’s statements regarding the SWAT raid have created serious problems for our elected officials, money raising efforts and have divided the Party. Mr. Miller was given repeated opportunities to either mend these fences or resign his position, and has chosen to do neither. Instead, he has continued to make controversial statements to the press.

As is the case with any organized governing body, no elected officer should be off in their own direction. This is especially important for the Chairman position. When the leader of an organization speaks for himself instead of the body that he was elected to, then division and chaos are the result. That is an unacceptable position for any organized body to be in and yet that is where the Pima GOP finds itself today.

Furthermore, in recent days serious questions have been raised as to the use of Party funds under Mr. Miller’s leadership. Mr. Miller has contracted for thousands of dollars of spending without proper Executive Committee oversight or approval which is in violation of the Committee bylaws.

In light of these concerns, the Pima GOP Executive Committee has chosen to strip Mr. Miller of his authority as Chairman. The Precinct Committeemen of Pima County have called a special meeting and we will be convening as soon as possible to vote on a bylaws change. If that passes the PCs will decide whether they wish to remove Mr. Miller from the board.