Matthew Ammel, Kyrsten Sinema’s former bodyguard and one-time lover, was arrested again in Phoenix after prosecutors say he tried to obtain a gun and threatened to “take down” the former senator, just weeks after allegedly wrecking her home.
Police took the 39-year-old Army veteran into custody Tuesday in a Cheesecake Factory parking lot after a tip from his GPS monitor placed him near a gun store. Court records reviewed by local outlets say Ammel had just dropped off a “large, military style” knife for engraving and allegedly tried to buy a firearm.
The New York Post reported that the same court documents allege Ammel threatened to kill a North Carolina judge involved in his custody fight and threatened to “take down” former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. He refused to appear for arraignment Thursday; the hearing was reset for Oct. 15.
Maricopa County prosecutors wanted his bond raised from $25,000 to $100,000 cash-only. Deputy County Attorney Bryn Barasha wrote that the state feared he would “escalate his retaliation if released.”
Court filings characterized by prosecutors claim Ammel “contacted military friends to build him a rifle, purchased tactical gear, and discussed funeral arrangements.” Those details surfaced after the GPS alert led officers to him near the gun shop.
The Washington Examiner reported that the rearrest stemmed from an alleged violation of pretrial release conditions tied to the earlier property case, with Ammel pinged at the Phoenix gun shop while holding the large knife and seeking a firearm. Officials said he had threatened that he would “take her down.”
The new arrest came roughly a month after Ammel was first charged with felony criminal damage for an Aug. 30 incident at Sinema’s Cave Creek property. Authorities say he caused about $200,000 in damage.
That earlier episode is now part of a longer paper trail of alleged contact attempts, bond fights, and a no-contact order Sinema herself later told police had been flouted, even as she declined to assist prosecutors further.
According to charging details, Ammel allegedly threw 22 paintings into Sinema’s swimming pool, smashed alcohol bottles, and destroyed a mirror. Damage to the artwork alone was estimated near $123,000. He was arrested Sept. 17 on those allegations and released with a no-contact order.
Just the News reported that Ammel allegedly broke into the home and demanded Sinema post a social-media video, threatening to toss another painting every few minutes until she complied. He ultimately threw 22 paintings into the pool.
Two days after the September arrest, prosecutors say he tried to have a friend reach Sinema anyway. She reported the attempted contact to police on Sept. 22 but, Maricopa County attorneys said, refused to help them build the case.
Ammel later told the Arizona Republic he damaged the art because he was “p, -d at the system.” “I took it out on her art,” he said. He claimed he wanted Sinema to post a video of soldiers and a wounded man and to press the Pentagon for a Presidential Unit Citation for his old unit.
“The American people have no idea how [f, ked] up our government is, and, like what our politicians spend their time doing,” Ammel said. He added, “I’m not a bad guy.” And: “I’m not crazy. I’m just really smart, and I have seen behind the curtains.” He admitted he had been drinking.
He also claimed without naming firms that Sinema “works for some of the companies that financially benefit from the genocide in Gaza.” None of those assertions have been independently verified in the court papers described so far.
Ammel joined Sinema’s security team in 2022. Their personal relationship became public after his ex-wife of 14 years, Heather Ammel, sued Sinema under North Carolina’s alienation-of-affection statute, sometimes called the “homewrecker law.” A judge allowed that civil case to move forward.
Sinema, 50, the former Arizona Democrat-turned-independent who left the Senate rather than face voters in 2024, has been linked in sworn accounts to repeated encounters with Ammel beginning around Memorial Day 2024. Coverage of Sinema’s testimony about encounters with her married bodyguard detailed how the relationship spilled into public view through the North Carolina filing.
Those same accounts described gifts, travel, and social invitations that blurred the line between official protection and private life, the kind of boundary failure that leaves taxpayers and families cleaning up the wreckage long after the cameras move on.
Similar personal scandals have dogged other high-profile Senate figures, including cases where infidelity questions shadowed a Senate bid and forced awkward public dodges. Voters notice when private chaos collides with public duty.
After the September property arrest, Ammel remained under GPS monitoring. That monitor is what alerted police to his Tuesday stop near the gun store. Prosecutors told the court he had already shown willingness to ignore the no-contact terms and to seek weapons and tactical equipment.
Barasha’s filing framed the risk in plain terms: escalation. The judge kept the existing $25,000 bond for the moment; whether the $100,000 cash-only request is granted remains unresolved in the available record. Ammel’s next scheduled appearance is Oct. 15.
The North Carolina custody dispute supplies another flashpoint. Court papers allege Ammel threatened the judge handling that matter. The judge’s name has not been released in the reporting cited here.
Political careers built on image management rarely survive this kind of paper trail. Parallel coverage of Sinema’s sworn statements on the relationship already showed how quickly a Senate office can become a stage for private grievance once the affair ends.
When elected officials treat security staff as personal companions, the inevitable breakup does not stay private. It lands in police reports, bond hearings, and civil dockets, paid for in court time and public attention.
Sinema rose as a progressive favorite, then reinvented herself as a bipartisan deal-maker, then walked away from re-election. Through each turn she remained a symbol of a political class that lectures Americans about norms while living by different ones. The bodyguard scandal fits a familiar pattern: access, intimacy, rupture, and then a scramble to contain the fallout.
Other recent Senate dramas have followed the same arc. Leadership has had to scramble when a scandal-plagued candidate collapses, and allies have watched mounting personal scandals rattle a tight Senate race. The common thread is simple. Private misconduct becomes public risk when the people involved hold power and refuse ordinary accountability.
Ammel’s own words place the blame on “the system.” The court file places the damage at a specific address in Cave Creek, with a specific price tag and a specific list of broken objects. Prosecutors place the latest threat language in black and white: take her down, build a rifle, arrange a funeral. Those are not abstractions.
Arizona voters, and the national audience that watched Sinema’s long goodbye to the Senate, now get the unvarnished sequel. A former protector accused of destroying art, ignoring court orders, shopping for a gun, and vowing payback. A former senator who reported a violation then stepped back from helping the prosecutors. A bond the state calls too low for the risk it sees.
Law-and-order voters have watched soft release conditions and uneven cooperation before. They know what ignored no-contact orders and weapons shopping can mean when rage is already on the record. The filing does not require guesswork. It requires a judge willing to treat the stated fear as real.
Personal drama among the powerful is not a victimless sport. Ex-spouses, children in custody fights, neighbors, and the public that funds the courts all absorb the cost. When a senator’s private life collides with a felony damage case and fresh threat allegations, the least the system can do is enforce its own orders without fear or favor.
Politicians who blur every line between staff and romance should not be shocked when the wreckage shows up in a parking lot next to a gun store. Accountability is not optional just because the last name once sat on a Senate committee roster.