Trump-backed candidate traded racist jokes with extremist, screenshot shows

• Congressional candidate Mark Lamb made a racist joke in a 2016 direct message exchange, a screenshot shows.
• Lamb also encouraged homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic slurs, screenshots show.
• Lamb has branded himself as "America's Sheriff" and is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
• Lamb did not respond to an interview request about the messages.

Mark Lamb did not push back when a member of a citizen militia group used a racial epithet in an online message exchange. He instead made a racist joke, a screenshot shows.

The Trump-endorsed candidate for Congress also cheered other discriminatory slurs in messages to a member of the vigilante group Border Narcotics Intelligence, messages from one of his 2016 campaign social media accounts show.

Lamb, former Pinal County sheriff, has branded himself as "America's Sheriff" and is running to succeed Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs in Arizona's Fifth Congressional District, just southeast of Phoenix. Builder Daniel Keenan is competing in the July 21 Republican primary.

A Facebook user named Nick Steele told Lamb that he and other group members were supporting him in his first bid for sheriff.

"BNI guys work like (N-words)," the Facebook user wrote.

"Hahahaha! So you don't do anything?" Lamb replied, punctuating his direct message with a pair of laughing emojis.

Steele appeared surprised by the sheriff's reply and sought to clarify.

"LOL No we work like (N-words) cuz it's the right thing to do..." he said.

"You guys do work hard," Lamb messaged back. "I'm impressed! And grateful!"

BNI was one of many self-appointed citizen militia groups that formed to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border that proliferated during the Obama administration and sought to clamp down on undocumented migrants.

The messages are part of a trove of digital material obtained by The Arizona Republic from a member of Lamb's first campaign team. That material includes sexually charged messages Lamb exchanged with multiple women after he was elected.

An investigation by The Republic found the sheriff invited intimate encounters and indulged a yearslong habit of sexting that he later denied or sought to conceal, sometimes with threats or intimidation.

The messages appear at odds with Lamb's faith-and-family focused campaign platform.

He did not respond to interview requests. His campaign on May 26 did not elaborate on what BNI did on the sheriff's behalf or his relationship with the group.

William Hubbard, Lamb's former staffer, handled the sheriff's social media accounts during his first campaign. Hubbard, who is Black, said Lamb apologized for making the racist remarks shortly after sending them.

"He called me to apologize for the responses," he told The Republic. "He was admitting that he had replied to the messages and his replies weren't appropriate."

Hubbard said Lamb minimized the texts, admitting only that he had said "ha, ha, ha."

Lamb told him he shouldn't have done it and was sorry "if that offended you," Hubbard said in a May 15 interview.

"I said, 'OK, it's forgiven,' and I think we kind of left it at that," he said.

Hubbard said his mother grew up in the Jim Crow South. Given everything his family went through, the racist remarks were insignificant, he said.

"To me, this was a hiccup, a man who was trying too hard to be liked," Hubbard said. "He felt like he needed every vote and therefore he made a decision that he was going to be OK with someone using that language, irrespective of whether or not he felt the same way."

Four years after helping to elect Lamb, Hubbard joined efforts to oust the sheriff over what he described as ethical concerns, including allegations of sexting and threats against women.

Homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic messages

The racial epithet wasn't the only discriminatory remark Lamb appeared at ease with in the message exchange. He also laughed at homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic comments.

The user named Steele referred to former Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who was dogged by scandal after his relationship with a young Mexican national named Jose Orozco became public, with caustic remarks aimed at his sexuality.

Lamb's response: "Hahahaha!" He followed up with, "Sounds like karma is going to hopefully handle Babeu."

Some of the discriminatory exchanges were included in a packet of information turned over to the Pinal County Board of Supervisors in 2020 by Hubbard and Lamb's political rival for sheriff, a former Mesa pastor named Tim Gustafson.

Gustafson implored the board to look into Lamb's ethical conduct, a recording of the meeting shows.

Steele and Lamb ran down public officials they didn't agree with politically in the message exchanges. In another exchange, they joked about punching an unnamed person in the mouth.

"I want to be there for that," Lamb responded. "Hahahaha!"

Steele twice referred to a woman he had a political dispute with on social media as a "stupid b----" and told Lamb to check out his response.

"Hahahaha! You shut her up!" Lamb wrote.

Steele and Lamb shared another laugh over a meme suggesting Hillary Clinton was a man.

"Hahahaha!" Lamb replied.

Border vigilante group backed Mark Lamb's bid for sheriff

Steele indicated in messages he had administrative powers within the border vigilante group and made it clear his "guys" were committed to making Lamb the top law enforcement officer in Pinal County.

Attempts to locate a Nick Steele by phone or address were unsuccessful. Facebook user Steele did not return messages left on the Facebook account, which has been dormant for years. On that page, last active in 2018, Steele posted photos and comments about BNI and other groups. He also posted about weapons, law enforcement and "illegal aliens."

BNI's former director, Mike Presnell, could not be reached for comment.

In 2016, the Facebook user Steele posted an endorsement on his page that Lamb had received from the Pinal County Deputies Association.

Screenshots of the 2016 exchanges with Lamb show that Steele's avatar matched an image he has used as a profile photo.

The Facebook user Steele asked Lamb whether he knew “there are 6 BNI guys working behind the scenes” supporting his campaign.

“Yes, and I can’t thank you guys enough! Thank you! Please pass my thanks on to all the other folks as well,” Lamb replied.

Neither the Facebook user Steele nor Lamb elaborated in the exchanges what specific work BNI was doing for the sheriff's campaign.

Border Narcotics Intelligence websites and social media pages appear to be inactive.

The group's stated purpose was to gather intelligence along the border and transmit it to federal authorities. In practice, their members were often armed, dressed in paramilitary garb and were involved in skirmishes with migrants they attempted to detain.

Archived versions of the border vigilante group’s website shows the group sold badges, holsters, pins, challenge coins, patches and belt buckles that resembled official law enforcement gear. A gold badge sold with an $80 "associate membership" depicted a six-pointed star encircled with the group's name and centered with the United States Great Seal.

In 2015, Facebook user Steele made a post defending the Confederate flag, saying the American Civil War was about “states' rights,” not slavery.

In his messages to Lamb, Steele praised Border Narcotics Intelligence as a “good intel org” and said there’s “not much they can’t find out."

“Information is what we do,” Steele wrote.

Mark Lamb's links to vigilante movements

Lamb has long had a connection to far-right vigilante movements. He flirted with the constitutional sheriff movement, a fringe view that sheriffs have absolute legal authority and can flout directives from other political authorities: In other words, sheriffs have more power than the president.

Lamb in 2020 put together a citizens' posse in response to concerns about Black Lives Matter protests. Lamb said he wanted to give Pinal County residents the power to help police crowds and enforce the law.

Lamb's son Cade also got into the militia movement and formed a border group called Sonoran Asset Group. Lamb tried to raise money off his son's activities. During his 2024 failed campaign for U.S. Senate, he solicited donations based on a "shocking video" Cade shot at the border, raising questions about a secret "terrorist camp."

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @robertanglen.

Laura Gersony covers national politics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X @lauragersony.