Matthew Ammel, a former bodyguard and romantic partner of ex-senator Kyrsten Sinema, says he damaged her Arizona home because he was angry about her political associations and what he saw as US involvement in wars. Court records say he threatened to throw one of her paintings into the pool every ten minutes unless she posted a video of soldiers in Iraq; when she refused, he threw 22 paintings into the pool and smashed liquor bottles and a mirror. The incident matters because it has led to criminal proceedings and raises questions about the breakdown of their personal relationship.

Ammel told The Arizona Republic that the seven-minute video showed soldiers treating a bloodied man he said they had shot during his 2007 Iraq deployment. He said he believed Sinema benefited companies linked to defence and the war in Gaza, and described feeling marginalised while accompanying her to political and social events. Sinema served in the Senate from 2019 to 2025 and later joined Hogan Lovells as a senior adviser; Ammel joined her security detail in 2022, and they began an affair in 2024. His case has been sent to a grand jury, with arraignment due on Thursday and trial scheduled for 25 February 2027.