Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Tempe on Thursday, spotlighted the recent killing of Tucson veteran Nick Quets on a Sonoran highway, asking Quets’ parents, sister and brother-in-law to stand at his rally as the crowd cheered for them.
“Just days ago a young Marine Corps veteran named Nicholas Quets from right here in Arizona was driving through Mexico for a beach weekend ... when he was viciously gunned down on the highway and murdered by members of a Mexican cartel, and it was brutal. For no reason whatsoever,” the former president said. “... A beautiful guy, a beautiful family and we are so sorry for your loss. It can’t be expressed.”
Trump said he will take on organized crime groups in Mexico if elected president.
“Under the Trump administration we will achieve compete and total victory over these sadistic monsters,” Trump said. “We will reclaim our territory, we will restore the sovereign borders of the United States of America, and we will put the cartels quickly out of business. They’re gonna be gone.”
Earlier in the day Thursday, Quets’ brother-in-law Phil Sweet told the Arizona Daily Star the family planned to meet with Trump in Tempe, where the Republican presidential nominee held a campaign rally at Mullett Arena on Arizona State University’s campus.
Tucson resident Nick Quets, a 31-year-old Marine veteran, was killed on a Sonora highway on Oct. 18 while traveling with friends to Puerto Peñasco.
Quets, 31, was fatally shot on Oct. 18 while driving through a dangerous part of northwest Sonora shortly before 8 p.m., on his way to Puerto Peñasco, the Star reported.
Sweet told the Star the family hoped to discuss with Trump the need for U.S. law enforcement to be involved in the investigation and for the culprits to be extradited to the U.S. for trial and punishment.
“Beyond those immediate requests we will discuss concrete strategic ideas on establishing a stronger security environment on both sides of the border leading to stronger economy in both countries which, along with direct action, will break the back of the cartel terrorists,” Sweet said in a text message to the Star.
“While nothing can bring Nick back we can honor his memory by bringing the criminals to justice while creating an environment which is safer for innocents on both sides of the border.”
Relatives of Nick Quets, a Marine veteran from Tucson who was shot and killed last week on a treacherous section of highway in Sonora, said Thursday they were going to meet with former President Donald Trump, who is holding a campaign rally in Tempe.
Quets, who worked in Pima County’s wastewater division, was traveling with friends from Nogales to Puerto Peñasco on Mexico’s Federal Highway 2, near Altar, when a vehicle pulled up alongside them and opened fire.
Just before the shooting, an armed group had tried to stop Quets’ truck at an illicit checkpoint, and opened fire after the vehicle did not stop, a Sonoran official confirmed to the Star on Monday, speaking on background.
On different stretches of the same highway, two Arizona women were killed in an August shooting and a U.S. resident was killed in December.
Trump’s comments on Quets’ death came two days after his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, highlighted Quets’ killing during a campaign event Tuesday at the Pima County Fairgrounds.
“You need to have a president who sends in the U.S. military to battle with the Mexican drug cartels,” said Vance, a Marine veteran. “... I think we’ve got hundreds of thousands of very fine Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen, who are pretty pissed off at the Mexican cartels. I think we’ll send them in to do battle with the Mexican drug cartels, too.”
Quets’ remains were returned to his family on Wednesday, brother-in-law Sweet said.
“We remain frustrated that we’ve received no support or contact from the current US administration other than help from State Department officials in assisting with the return of Nicholas’ remains,” Sweet said.
A spokesman for the Sonora Attorney General’s Office had no immediate comment on Thursday about the possibility of collaborating with U.S. authorities on the investigation.
After the Oct. 18 shooting, Mexican security forces immediately launched a search effort to find the perpetrators, the Sonora AG office said. Over the weekend, the Mexican troops who were combing the desert area around Altar and Caborca were attacked by armed assailants.
In response, security forces killed four of the attackers and seized five AK47 assault rifles, tactical vests and ammunition, the office said.
“An investigation is being carried out to determine if they are the possible perpetrators,” Allan de la Rosa, spokesman for the AG’s office in Sonora, told the Star on Thursday, in text messages written in Spanish. “It’s a very extensive desert area. They are carrying out operations by land and air.”
