Recently acquired security footage reveals Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos being stopped at the Tucson International Airport for attempting to bring an undeclared handgun through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint. The incident occurred as Sheriff Nanos was preparing to travel to Laguna Beach, California. The video was obtained by News Media via a public records request.
According to TSA regulations, law enforcement officers on active duty can fly while armed, provided they adhere to federal guidelines and inform the airline in advance. However, some critics argue that Sheriff Nanos received preferential treatment compared to what an ordinary citizen might expect under similar circumstances.
The incident, captured in November 2024, has only now been publicly disclosed. This development comes on the heels of the arrest of three YouTubers by Pima County deputies. The individuals were detained for purportedly creating a public disturbance in the neighborhood of Nancy Guthrie, sparking debates over First Amendment rights.
In the footage, Sheriff Nanos is seen listening to an officer as they read him his Miranda rights at the airport checkpoint after he was found with a loaded firearm. The Tucson Airport Authority recorded this exchange.
The arrested YouTubers have been identified as Alex Zabel, known online as “Criminal Network,” Troy Bradshaw, who goes by “DAA JUICE,” and Damian Enderle, the creator of the 857 Tucson channel.
Nanos missed his flight but was released without charges. Zabel and Bradshaw were both briefly jailed on June 8, while Enderle was given a citation.
“It looks like our lovely Sheriff Nanos has decided to go after YouTubers, streamers, and freelance journalists who dare enter the very street where Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped,” Enderle wrote on X Tuesday. “Meanwhile, less than a mile south, in a county-patrolled area, it appears to be a homeless fentanyl free-for-all.”
WATCH: Sheriff Nanos receives a Miranda warning during TSA gun incident
A Glock handgun found in Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos’ bag at a TSA checkpoint at the Tucson International Airport. He was turned away and given a chance to stow it in his vehicle, but he was not charged with a crime. (Tucson Airport Authority)
The three streamers face misdemeanor public nuisance charges. Zabel is also accused of obstructing the roadway.
A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told News Media that numerous complaints about blocked roadways, trespassing and other neighborhood disruptions have been called in, and that warnings allegedly went unheeded.
“After reviewing video evidence showing one of the arrestees urinating in public behind a makeshift tent, Sheriff Chris Nanos has directed deputies to take a stronger enforcement approach,” the spokesperson said. “Sheriff Nanos will no longer tolerate behavior that disrupts the community or violates the law.”
Savannah Guthrie stands beside her mother Nancy Guthrie in a photo taken on June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
The sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bodycam.
Going forward, the sheriff’s department is vowing to cite and release first-time offenders in Guthrie’s neighborhood. Anyone caught a second time may be jailed.
“Not sure those charges will stick, but it seems strange to still have people hanging around now that this has been a cold case for months,” said Dr. Matt Heinz, a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors. “These neighbors deserve some peace.”
Damian Todd Enderle, the man behind 857 Tucson, pictured outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in February. (Olivia Palombo/News Media)
The Pima County Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the arrests.
“Due to ongoing litigation, we are not able to provide a comment at this time,” a spokesperson told News Media. “Thank you for your understanding, we will share updates when it becomes legally appropriate.”
There has been a ban on media parking in the neighborhood since late February after dozens of news vehicles camped out up and down the block for weeks.
As News Media previously reported, a local resident named Cory Stephens complained to the county board of supervisors at a public meeting on Nov. 12, 2024, that the sheriff did not face the same consequences a regular citizen would have.
“If a private citizen had encountered that at the airport, the consequences would have been greater,” Stephens, president of the Conservative Coalition of America, told News Media in April.
An armed individual reaches toward a Google Nest camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door in Tucson, Arizona, in photos released on Feb. 10, 2026. (Provided by FBI)
An incident report dated Nov. 6, 2024, shows a TSA X-ray technician saw the weapon in the sheriff’s bag and flagged an officer. Airport police found five rounds in the magazine and another in the chamber.
The sheriff was not charged or arrested, but the responding officer read him a Miranda warning.
Nanos told the officer that he had stayed at a hotel the night before, which he said was election night. He said he didn’t want to leave the department-issued gun in his vehicle, which he checked in with a valet. So he stuffed it in his bag.
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department stands next to a vehicle outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 10, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
“Got up this morning in a rush, we were late, and just threw everything in,” he says on bodycam video obtained by News Media.
The officer agreed it was an accident, informed his superiors and ultimately allowed Nanos to stow the weapon in his vehicle.
“You are free to go, good sir — have a wonderful vacation,” the officer told Nanos after escorting him to the concourse exit.
The sheriff missed his flight, however, and took a later plane to California.
Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie.
Her suspected abduction remains unsolved, and there is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that cracks the case.
The family is urging anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI. Anonymous tips can be called into Tucson’s 88-Crime hotline at 1-520-882-7463.
