Another accusation leveled at Rep. Shooter
A seventh woman is accusing legislator Don Shooter of impropriety in the flood of complaints against the Republican lawmaker. A 26-year-old woman tells the Arizona Capitol Times that Shooter made lewd sexual comments and gestures when she encountered him for the first time at a League of Arizona Cities and Towns conference in August.
Another woman has come forward with accusations that state Rep. Don Shooter made sexually inappropriate comments to her — the latest in a flood of complaints against the Republican lawmaker.
In an article published by the Arizona
Capitol Times on Monday, a 26-year-old woman said Shooter repeatedly made lewd sexual comments and gestures when she encountered him for the first time at a League of Arizona Cities and Towns conference in August.
Tara Zika, who works for a risk-management company that contracts with public entities, told the Capitol Times that Shooter, R-Yuma, first blew her a kiss and made a sexual comment about her legs as she walked past him.
Zika said the comments continued during the conference. At one point, she turned around to make sure Shooter wasn’t following her to her room, she said.
According to the Capitol Times, Zika said Shooter then made a vulgar gesture about oral sex.
After Zika confronted him, he raised his hands up in the air in a “surrendering gesture” every time he saw her for the rest of the conference, the article states.
“It’s undermining and it’s humiliating,” Zika told the Capitol Times.
Zika could not immediately be reached by The Arizona Republic for comment on Monday evening.
Zika’s allegations come as Shooter is under investigation over allegations involving several women. Seven women have publicly accused Shooter of inappropriate behavior, including making sexually charged comments, touching them inappropriately or making unwanted sexual advances.
Shooter’s list of accusers includes Zika; Mi-Ai Parrish, president and publisher of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com; three state lawmakers; a Democratic lobbyist; and a former intern for the Capitol Times.
The Arizona House of Representatives has launched multiple investigations into Shooter’s conduct, and an outside team of investigators is slated to lead the probe.
So far, Shooter has declined to comment on the bulk of his accusers’ statements. Neither Shooter nor his attorney could be reached for comment after Zika’s allegations were published late Monday afternoon.
“No, I can’t make any public comments,” Shooter said when reached last week after Parrish published a column detailing an encounter with him. “I’m waiting for the investigation to unfold. I trust that the truth will come out.”
On Friday, House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, suspended Shooter as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee while accusations against him are investigated.