"Why not bring the people, trained posse men and women, dedicated, into the fight against illegal immigration?" – Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Sept. 16, 2010
The other day we heard about Joe Arpaio's latest gimmick – giving volunteers the "appropriate hardware and gear" they need to join his junta and track down brown people on the streets of Maricopa County. Here's a copy of his office's press release, in which he announced the vigilante boondoggle.
As word of this latest PR stunt filtered into the community (and everything with Arpaio is calculated in terms of public relations), it's pissed off a lot of people who already felt like they were living in Sinclair Lewis's novel, only this time it did happen here. Sometimes I think maybe I'm being a little alarmist, and then I hear a respected Republican State Senator call Arizona "a police state."
Last night Arpaio spoke at a local school, where he was greeted by more than a few people who are none too happy that he's anxious to provide guns and authority to goobers who are just hankering to catch some poor immigrants. I'm sure Joe won't have any trouble recruiting for his posse. You can bet J.T. Ready and his National Socialist pals will sign up – the wackjobs who are already patrolling the desert in their camouflaged getups, protecting us from poor brown kids coming to wash our cars. It's okay to hunt them down with your Uzies, just don't leave them any water, because that's a crime.
Or Joe will probably have a lot of luck recruiting from the Minutemen who've been camped out on the border; here's their chance to get a real badge and work for their hero. And, remember, they've had such success, especially that time they broke into a home and murdered a family, including a 9-year-old girl:
The invaders reportedly shot all three members of the Flores family who were present at the time, killing the father and daughter and leaving the mother wounded. While Bush is the suspected gunman in the shootings, investigators say [Shauna] Forde was the mastermind of the operation... Forde is listed as the National Executive Director of Minuteman American Defense on the group's website, and the Arizona Daily Star reports that Bush, nicknamed "Gunny," is the group's Operations Director... The Minuteman American Defense website and blog contains numerous photos of Forde and friends at Minuteman and "Tea Party" events, including an Apr. 15 event in Phoenix at which Forde's favorite protest sign was one reading "Stop the Obama-Nation of America." The site also includes descriptions of immigrants as violent criminals, drug addicts, and "Subhuman Mexicans."
Soooo ... last night Joe asked the crowd,
"Why not bring the people, trained posse men and women, dedicated, into the fight against illegal immigration?"
You wanna know "Why not?" I've got your "Why not?" right here: J.T. Ready, Shauna Forde. Want more?
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You cannot train and control your own deputies, so what makes us think you'll be able to effectively train and control vigilantes? It bears repeating that Sheriff Arpaio and his team, many who have been in place for more than a decade, have been sued more times than the next ten large county sheriffs combined. Many of the lawsuits are the result of illegal arrests, such as in this video arrest of civil rights leader Sal Reza last month, a story that received national attention during the Phoenix anti-SB 1070 protest, because Reza appears to be guilty of doing nothing more than Standing While Brown. The prosecutor agreed, dropping the bogus case, and Reza indicated a lawsuit is forthcoming.
Other lawsuits were brought by the families of prisoners who died while in Arpaio's custody; several were filed by people who were merely awaiting trail (not convicted of anything), but were beaten or confined in the Sheriff's hell hole – at least one dying from heat exhaustion. A handful of people sued him for ruining their reputations – like Sue Schuerman, a secretary in the County Supervisors office who Arpaio accused of colluding with a politician he hates – harassing her at work, staking out her home, spreading rumors to the press. Classy there, Joe. And then there's a shit load of lawsuits that were filed by elected officials and judges who were targets of Arpaio's political vendettas, because they would not go along with his police state tactics. The tally so far: $43 million paid out by taxpayers, another $50 million or so pending.
Just this week a 30-year career Deputy Chief in Arpaio's office, Frank Munnell, released a 63-page memo in which he indicts Arpaio's righthand racist, Dave Hendershott, along with others in the Sheriff's office – writing that they "willfully and intentionally committed criminal acts by attempting to obstruct justice, tamper with witnesses, and destroy evidence." Today we learned that two of the bigger muckity mucks in Arpaio's regime have been placed on leave (paid of course). Today, too, word came that one of Arpaio's pit bull attorneys, Lisa Aubuchon, will be shown the door:
Aubuchon generally was regarded as the go-to lawyer in the political-corruption cases pursued by Thomas, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Arpaio's chief deputy, David Hendershott. All of those cases were dropped or dismissed, and in at least one case, a grand jury refused to hand up indictments and ordered Aubuchon to "end the inquiry."
Stay with me here, this is still this week, and these are Arpaio's trained, professional staff. The day before Munnell's bombshell, the County fined Arpaio's re-election campaign $154,000 for financing a mailer he distributed during the recent primary election that called for the defeat of Rick Romley, the current Republican County Attorney. Romley is generally regarded as a fair and effective County Attorney; but he's butt heads with Arpaio regularly, especially over the Sheriff's more egregious immigrant-hunting tactics, such as his infamous "sweeps," where his deputies lock down and patrol through neighborhoods and businesses. Romley lost in the primary to Joe's handpicked man, so it appears he'll have another Sancho Panza to do his bidding.
And then on Wednesday a report surfaced in the Arizona Republic saying that internal bickering and lawsuits within Maricopa County, much of it connected to the infighting in Arpaio's office, have cost taxpayers more than $5.6 million, mostly for high-priced lawyers. Earlier in the week, attorneys working for the County filed a complaint, alleging that Arpaio's goons are spying on them, intimidating them so they will not cooperate with the federal investigation that's looking into charges of racial profiling within Arpaio's office. Now, why would county attorneys think they're being harassed or intimidated by Arpaio, just because he sends them letters?
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has sent letters to current and former attorneys in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office warning them to watch their words if they speak to investigators looking into possible unethical conduct by former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.... At the end of the letter, he wrote, "Be advised that should you disclose any information that could harm any pending criminal investigations, I will consider charging you with violations of applicable statutes."
Oh, and to top it off: the Department of Justice just sued Arpaio again last week for refusing to comply with their investigation – stonewalling on his part that could cost the County millions in federal funds.
The suit alleges the Sheriff's Office is in violation of federal civil-rights laws by refusing for 17 months to fully cooperate with an investigation into police practices and jail operations....At stake is $113 million in future federal funding for the county, they say, which is given on the condition that officials agree they will not discriminate against residents and will cooperate with federal officials. The money funds dozens of programs, such as nutrition for women and children, energy assistance for low-income families, housing, and health care for the homeless.
Enough with the lawsuits, indict this peckerhead. All of this is on top of the fact that crime rates have dropped everywhere in Arizona ... except Maricopa County. Crime is down along the border and it's down in rural communities – the places that Governor Jan Brewer portrays as a war zone, with headless bodies littering the desert. It's only in Arpaio's Gulag that crime has increased. Good job there, Sheriff.
So, when you ask "Why not?" Joe, the answer is clear: Your own operation is an ineffective, expensive, immoral nightmare. Why in the world would we want you to put even more SB 1070-loving bigots on our streets – with "appropriate hardware" and an overblown sense of their own authority?
UPDATE: Rescue Rangers rock! This diary slipped down the column yesterday, died a quiet death with about a dozen comments. Thanks to vcmvo2 for the rescue, and you for putting it on the Rec list!