Boston Globe columnist Marcela García reminds us of the true victims from Maricopa County—the Latinos, immigrants, children, and inmates terrorized by the disgraced Joe Arpaio.
County taxpayers were forced to shell out nearly $150 million to “litigate and settle” legal claims from Arpaio’s reign of terror, which included rampant abuse in his jails and illegal traffic stops targeting Latinos. Trump may have saved the criminal Arpaio from his due justice, but among Arizonans in particular, no presidential pardon can ever prevent Arpaio from being remembered for the racist, lawless authoritarian he is long after he’s gone:
In 1997, a few years after Arpaio assumed office, the US Department of Justice sued him after an investigation found rampant mistreatment of inmates in his jails and a pattern of excessive force by the sheriff’s staff. Officers hog-tied inmates and used stun guns on them while they were handcuffed or in restraining chairs. The lawsuit was dismissed in a settlement, but Arpaio’s methods of abuse didn’t change at all.
As a result, many prisoners died at an alarming rate without explanation. According to the Phoenix New Times, taxpayers in Maricopa have paid more than $140 million to litigate and settle countless claims of brutality while Arpaio was sheriff.
By the mid-2000s, Arpaio had found another target to terrorize and criminalize: unauthorized immigrants (much like Trump did during the presidential campaign.) Arpaio became obsessed with enforcing federal immigration law, conducting workplace raids and immigration patrols where his staff stopped people who looked Hispanic and arrested those who were illegally in the country.
García writes that throughout his illegal, racist profiling, Arpaio and his deputies routinely ignored or underinvestigated hundreds of cases of sexual assault, failing “to follow through in at least 32 reported child molestations.” Some of the victims were as young as two.
“The courts eventually caught up with Arpaio,” García continues, “but then came Trump and his pardon. Meanwhile, Arpaio’s victims remain scattered across Arizona and beyond. Where is the justice for them? This pardon is not only a personal affront to all of Arpaio’s victims and the Hispanic community at large, but also gravely weakens America’s rule of law.”
And, crimes and actions that Donald Trump endorses through his presidential pardon. Not only will will he overlook disregarding the rule of law as long as it results in terrorism against Latino and immigrant communities, he’ll forgive you for it. Read the full Boston Globe column from Marcela García here.