Brianna Westbrook, a former vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and candidate for Congress in 2018, was taken into custody on a burglary charge.
Westbrook, 41, was arrested on July 10 after officers responded to a disturbance at Indian School Road and 19th Avenue, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
According to authorities, an adult female at the home told detectives that her ex-partner violently entered the home while wielding a knife.
Brianna Westbrook is a onetime congressional candidate and Democratic Party leader
Westbrook, a transgender rights activist and political organizer, was the first openly transgender person elected to a state Democratic Party vice chair position.
She ran as a Justice Democrat in the 2018 special election for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District after then-Rep. Trent Franks resigned, but lost to physician Hiral Tipirneni.
She sought for the Arizona House again in 2022 and was twice nominated by Democratic precinct committee members to fill legislative vacancies, but the board chose different candidates.
Westbrook also served as a national surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and helped organize the 2019 Women’s March in Phoenix.
Westbrook informed the judge during her initial court appearance that she had never been arrested before, despite the fact that she wrote a blog post about it in 2018.
The bond was set at $15,000.
Leave a Reply