Current Affairs published ”Wait, Do People Actually Know Just How Evil This Man Is?”, a story by Nathan J. Robinson for which the clear answer is “no”. For those of us that haven’t kept track of all of Arpaio’s misdeeds, Robinson does a great job of summarizing. It’s a long read, but it’s worth it. If you don't have the time, here’s the summary of a summary:
Arpaio arrested people at checkpoints who were often here legally, and detained them in horrible conditions, often for nothing more than having a dark skin and no papers at hand. He kept detainees in a tent camp:
- ...with no heating or air conditioning (often 110°F / 43°C in the summer, freezing in the winter)
- ...without basic sanitation,
- …intentionally giving them rotten food
- ...condoned his subordinates beating prisoners to death and hid evidence afterwards
- ...ignored frequent raping of prisoners
While he was doing all this, he:
- ...routinely ignored real crimes, such as sexual abuse
- ...operated an unofficial armed anti-immigration force (which had a tank!)
- ...faked records to appear more successful at combating crime than he actually was
- ...used night raids and baseless arrests to retaliate against unfriendly journalists and public officials
- ...tried to indict supervisors who cut his budget on bogus felony charges
- ...arrested citizens who applauded criticism of him at a public meeting
- ...staged a fake assassination attempt against himself as part of his reelection campaign.
Readers here probably know a lot of this, but I was impressed by the clarity and completeness of Nathan Robinson’s writing. The author makes Arpaio's appearances on Conan and Colbert Report sound almost as bad as Fallon's treatment of Trump just before the election. The way that this guy has been normalized means the author is correct: most people don't realize just how evil Arpaio is.