An Arizona school board member is facing calls to resign after appearing to make a Nazi salute during a contentious public meeting before later comparing the board president to a dictator and saying, «All I could think of tonight was Hitler.»

Video from a May 26 Deer Valley Unified School District Governing Board meeting appears to show board member Kimberly Fisher raising her right arm and saying, «Heil, heil» during a dispute with board President Paul Carver Jr.

The exchange occurred near the end of the meeting during a disagreement over scheduling a community study session related to district boundary discussions.

According to video of the meeting, Fisher objected to holding the session during the afternoon, arguing that community members would have difficulty attending.

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«The whole point of having a study session with our community is that we can get their input and they can hear our discussions,» Fisher said during the meeting.

Carver later said he moved to adjourn the meeting because the discussion involved an item that was not on the posted agenda and could have raised concerns under Arizona’s Open Meeting Law.

«The reason for calling for the adjournment was simply that, as the question turned into discussion concerning an item that was not on the agenda, the board was moving into an area that could have been considered a violation of Arizona’s Open Meeting Law,» Carver said in a Facebook video posted after the meeting.

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Carver said Fisher made the gesture and comment after the motion to adjourn.

«The point behind this post is that there’s a lot of noise being made that she may have been justified in making that statement because she felt like I was being a dictator,» Carver said. «I was simply following the rules of the state of Arizona.»

He added that «it is never okay to make those gestures and make that statement with those gestures in any environment.»

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The incident prompted condemnation from district officials, who said Fisher was acting independently and did not represent the views of the district.

«The District does not condone, support, or endorse gestures or language associated with hate, discrimination, intimidation or violence in any form,» Deer Valley Unified School District said in a statement. «Such actions do not reflect the mission or vision of Deer Valley Unified School District.»

Kim Fisher took to Facebook hours after the board meeting to explain her side of the story. (Facebook/@kim.fisher.233417)

The district added that Fisher’s «views and actions do not reflect and should not be attributed to other board members, staff, other members of the school community or the District.»

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The Deer Valley Educators Association also condemned Fisher’s conduct and called for her resignation.

«DVEA was horrified and disgusted to see DVUSD Governing Board Member Kimberly Fisher deliver a Nazi salute during the Tuesday, May 26, 2026, board meeting,» association president Kelley Fisher said in a statement.

«Any leader who uses a Nazi salute during a School Board meeting is unfit for public service. There is no justification for this behavior. Kimberly Fisher should resign before she does more harm to our students and the community at large.»

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Hours after the meeting, Fisher posted a Facebook livestream in which she doubled down on her criticism of Carver, repeatedly describing his leadership as dictatorial.

«We have been living or operating under virtually a dictatorship for a long time,» Fisher said.

She also accused Carver of acting like «a dictator» and urged voters not to support him in future elections.

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Near the end of the livestream, Fisher appeared to connect her thinking during the meeting to historical dictators.

«What was it? Pol Pot, you know, was the most egregious dictator I’ve heard of,» Fisher said. «All I could think of tonight was Hitler.»

Fisher did not directly address the gesture or comment from the meeting during the livestream.

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In a separate video posted to social media, Carver said community members had asked why the board was not taking action against Fisher. He argued Arizona law limits the ability of school boards to discipline elected members.

Deer Valley Unified School District Governing Board President Paul Carver Jr. addresses community questions in a Facebook video after a May 26 board meeting during which board member Kimberly Fisher appeared to make a Nazi salute and say «heil, heil.» (Facebook/@paul.carver.264650)

«I need the community to understand that in the state of Arizona, the school district and the board do not have the ability to discipline board members,» Carver said.

Carver called Fisher’s behavior «rampant and repetitive» and said her actions were «totally unacceptable and unprofessional.»

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Deer Valley Unified School District serves more than 33,000 students across northern Maricopa County, including communities in north Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Cave Creek and New River, according to the district.

Fox News Digital reached out to Fisher for comment.

A hardline, law-and-order candidate who promises to dismantle drug cartels and reset Colombia’s security doctrine is gaining traction with voters as Colombians vote in Sunday’s presidential election.

As the world’s largest cocaine producer and a long-standing U.S. security partner, Colombia’s internal policies directly affect narcotics flows, migration dynamics and regional stability.

Analysts believe a shift in Bogotá’s leadership could reshape cooperation with Washington on drug interdiction, intelligence sharing and counter-cartel operations — issues that remain central to U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

Abelardo De La Espriella, a businessman and successful defense attorney, has emerged as a leading candidate on the right with a platform focused on aggressive counternarcotics enforcement, institutional reform and a decisive break from current leftist President Gustavo Petro’s negotiation-based approach with armed rebel groups. 

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The 47-year-old, nicknamed ‘The Tiger,’ recently told the Associated Press, «The only peace process I believe in is one imposed by the force of arms and the laws of the republic. Under my government, any bandit who resists will be eliminated as appropriate, and if he submits, we will imprison him in a mega prison so he can pay his debt to justice as they should.»

His rise mirrors a regional pattern seen with leaders like Javier Milei, Nayib Bukele and José Antonio Kast figures who have built political momentum around security-first agendas and voter frustration with crime and economic instability.

According to an Associated Press report, polls say De La Espriella is likely to fight it out with leftist candidate Iván Cepeda, who is from the same party as President Gustavo Petro, and center-right candidate Paloma Valencia. There are 14 candidates on the ballot.

Colombia’s presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria party, speaks behind bulletproof glass during his closing campaign rally in Medellin, Colombia on May 24, 2026. Colombia will hold presidential elections on May 31.  (Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP Via Getty Images)

Valencia’s campaign is backed by most of the nation’s traditional parties and by economists who are concerned about the growing levels of debt under the Petro administration and want Colombia to return to more orthodox policies, the Associated Press reported.

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Valencia told Fox News Digital, «As president of Colombia, we will restore a strategic, close, and trustworthy relationship with the United States, based on mutual respect and the defense of our national interests. We will strengthen cooperation in security, intelligence, military training, and the fight against transnational crime; areas in which the alliance between our two countries has been essential to Colombia’s stability. We will also work to ensure that Colombia plays an active role in the Shield of the Americas and contributes to regional leadership in defense and security. «

She added, «The United States will continue to be a key partner for economic growth, investment, and job creation, as well as a vital ally for the millions of Colombians who live there. Colombia will also stand alongside the United States in defending freedom and democracy across the hemisphere, supporting efforts to restore liberty in Cuba and to help Venezuela return to a democratic path. Our relationship will be defined by trust, cooperation, and the pursuit of tangible benefits for Colombia and its citizens.»

Paloma Valencia, presidential candidate for the Democratic Center party, during the Gran Consulta Por Colombia election night rally in Bogota, Colombia, on Sunday, March 8, 2026. Senator Paloma Valencia is now among the favorites to become Colombia’s next president after her landslide win in primaries on Sunday.  (Nathalia Angarita/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Critics say leftist candidate Iván Cepeda, represents a continuation and potential expansion of the leftist policies associated with Petro. Cepeda supports dialogue with armed groups, rural reform and a reform of Colombia’s traditional security framework, placing greater emphasis on social investment.

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Camilo Guzmán, executive director of Libertank, told Fox News Digital that Sunday’s election will likely result in a runoff between Cepeda and De La Espriella. «Abelardo earned that ticket by reading the room better than anyone else in the opposition. He offered catharsis, speaking directly to Colombian voters’ indignation toward the traditional political class and the establishment. 

«Where center-right Senator Paloma Valencia offered competence and continuity with the Uribe tradition, he said, De La Espriella’s message «is built on a hard line on security,» Guzman added. «Ending Petro’s failed ‘total peace’ policy that emboldened guerrillas and cartels, going after narco-trafficking with full force, and rebuilding the counter-narcotics alliance with Washington that Petro spent four years dismantling.«

Analysts say the outcome for the U.S. carries significant strategic weight. A De La Espriella administration could align more closely with Washington’s traditional counternarcotics priorities, potentially strengthening bilateral cooperation at a time when synthetic drug flows and organized crime networks are expanding across the hemisphere.

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Colombia’s presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda, of the Pacto Historico party, speaks to supporters during his final campaign rally in Barranquilla, Atlantico department, Colombia on May 24, 2026.  (Vanessa Romero/AFP via Getty Images)

Beyond bilateral relations, the election is being closely watched as a potential inflection point for Latin America. A De La Espriella or Valencia win would reinforce the momentum of security-focused leadership seen in parts of the region, while a Cepeda presidency would signal continuity for Petro’s policies.

José Manuel Restrepo, candidate for vice president on the ticket with De La Espriella talked exclusively to Fox News Digital. «The relationship between Colombia and the United States needs to be recovered and rebuilt, and this starts with a sound security policy to combat drug trafficking. It will be crucial to move beyond the current deteriorated relationship, in which we lost the historic bilateral, bicameral, bipartisan, and multisectoral relationship with our primary trading and investment partner.»

Jose Manuel Restrepo, Colombia’s former finance minister and vice presidential candidate for the Defenders of the Homeland party, during a campaign rally in Bogota, Colombia, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.  (Nathalia Angarita/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He continued, «To strengthen it, we must seize the opportunity for Colombia to become the United States’ best possible ally in the restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Leveraging this relationship with the United States, we can play a major role in investing in food, hygiene products and basic needs from Colombia to Venezuela. This would, among other things, give a new direction to the relationship with the United States, creating new opportunities that benefit Colombia…Under our administration, the relationship with the United States would be strengthened and revitalized.

Guzman noted that «De La Espriella’s anti-establishment posture is not a libertarian agenda. His economic program leans on price controls, interest-rate subsidies, and import substitution, closer to old-school Latin American populism than to Bukele’s pro-investment turn, and a world away from Milei’s free-market project. Whether the economic program that comes with it creates new instability south of the border is the open question.»

Supporters of Colombia’s presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda, of the Pacto Historico party, attend a campaign rally at Plaza Bolivar in Bogota on May 22, 2026.  (Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)

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Analyst, entrepreneur and son of a former president Jerónimo Uribe said the stakes could not be clearer in Sunday’s presidential race. «The elections in Colombia are not between the left and the right. They are between a communist model propped up by drug traffickers and a model that defends democracy and freedom,» he told Fox News Digital.

Representatives for Cepeda did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.