Tucson State Senate Candidate Rocque Perez Faces Scrutiny Over Deleted Violent Social Media Posts

Deleted posts resurface ahead of July primary

A Tucson education advocate running for the Arizona State Senate faces fresh scrutiny after archived social media posts revealed violent political rhetoric he once posted online. Rocque Perez, a 27-year-old Democratic candidate for Legislative District 20, did not acknowledge writing the messages in a phone interview with The Arizona Republic. He called the material "put out without my consent."

Perez is seeking to unseat incumbent state Rep. Alma Hernandez in the July Democratic primary for the open Senate seat in Tucson's Democrat-heavy district.

Archive.org preserves deleted messages

Online archives on Archive.org show that a social media account belonging to Perez posted several messages encouraging violence between 2020 and 2021. The conservative news site California Globe first published the posts in October. The Republic independently corroborated their existence through the archive.

Among the preserved messages:

• A 2020 reply to a user complaining about conservative household members: "So kill them, do your duty baby girl."
• A 2020 response to a post by Ivanka Trump: "Someone throw this b---- off the capitol building roof please."
• A message about a conservative activist: "How has she not gotten beat yet? like... hath no one the bravery to literally hurt her cause...??"
• A post wondering if he should "end" a "vapid white girl" in a Zoom class meeting.

Perez was 20 and 21 years old when the posts appeared. He was working in public relations at the University of Arizona at the time.

"I wouldn't be questioned about the social media posts if this was any other 19, 20-year-old at the time," Perez told The Republic. "I was cognizant before I ran for office that doing so would likely mean the posts would be discussed publicly."

Opponent calls posts unacceptable

Rep. Alma Hernandez condemned the messages in a statement to The Republic.

"Her opponent's violent posts were unacceptable for anyone seeking public office," Hernandez said. "To brush it off and say you were young and dumb, that's not an excuse."

Perez graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in political science in 2022. He briefly served last year as an appointed Tucson city council member. He currently serves as executive director for the Southern Arizona Education Council, an organization that advises Tucson-area schools.

Mitch Zak, the university's spokesperson, declined to comment on whether other employees knew about the posts at the time. He provided an employment history showing Perez was a student worker in the office of Multicultural Advancement and "research communications."

OnlyFans accusation remains unconfirmed

The California Globe also alleged that Perez previously ran a pornographic OnlyFans account called "ThatLocalBoy." The publication said screenshots were contributed by a "source."

The Republic could not independently confirm Perez operated the OnlyFans site. Perez denied ever having an OnlyFans account.

"Not at any point did I put out anything like this," Perez said.

The X.com account in question featured an image of Perez as its thumbnail photo. A December 2020 post on that account appeared to encourage users to watch "ThatLocalBoy" masturbate on OnlyFans. That account no longer exists.

Asked about the photos and sexually oriented posts, Perez said he was "not going to relegate what was me or not me."

State lawmakers have faced similar backlash

Perez's deleted posts follow a national debate over violent rhetoric by politicians. Several Arizona lawmakers have recently faced criticism for similar language.

Rep. John Gillette, a Republican from Kingman, posted on X.com last year that a congresswoman should be "tried convicted and hanged" for what he claimed was a call to "overthrow" the government. Gillette has also called Muslims "savages."

The Republican chair of the House Ethics Committee declined to investigate Gillette. Three Democratic members of Arizona's congressional delegation — Reps. Greg Stanton, Adelita Grijalva and Yassamin Ansari — wrote to Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro saying Gillette had "crossed lines unacceptable for any elected official." Thirty liberal advocacy groups also condemned Gillette's statements in a letter to Montenegro.

Perez said he does not see himself in the same category as Gillette.

"Gillette's comments were made in a very different context than the deleted posts on my X.com account," Perez said.

Adelita Grijalva, a former commissioner for the Southern Arizona Education Council who has worked with Perez, said through a spokesperson that she "condemns all violent political rhetoric."

In 2024, former Democratic Rep. Leezah Sun of Phoenix resigned before facing possible expulsion by her peers for violent comments, including an alleged threat to throw a Tolleson city official off a balcony.

The July primary in Legislative District 20 will determine the Democratic nominee for the open state Senate seat. Perez and Hernandez are the two declared candidates in the race so far.