This week, free local paper magazine Phoenix New Times featured an article about Joe Arpaio called “10 Reasons This Little Man Shouldn’t Be Your Senator” by Stuart Warner, showing the worst of Sheriff Joe. He starts off by pointing out various “contradictions” (I would have said “hypocrisies”) of Joe Arpaio:
- He is an affable man who presided over despicable things.
- He is the son of immigrants who ruined the lives of thousands of immigrants.
- He is a loving father, husband, and grandfather who broke up thousands of families.
- He is a champion of law and order who repeatedly defied a court order.
- He is a dog lover that … Well, you’ll find out below. (I really wish that this was fake news, though.)
And now, a la David Letterman, the Top Ten Reasons Why Arpaio Should Not Be Senator. These are the names of the stories that ran in the New Times, along with their dates and a brief summary, covering acts that were perpetrated by Arpaio and his goons. (Doing the summary disgusted me enough, so for details, you should head to your local search engine.)
Drum roll, please ...
10. “Prisoners Are Hanging Themselves in Sheriff Joe’s Jail at an Alarming Rate” (November 24, 2015). From 1996 to 2015, the number of suicides among jail deaths went up 24%. Rates in other cities between 2000 and 2002: Los Angeles: 11%, New York: 9%, Philadelphia: 14% (the second largest number mentioned in the article).
9. ”Arpaio Costs County More than $44 million in Melendes Expenses” (May 18, 2015). This is to pay his legal battles in the Melendes v. Arpaio lawsuit ordering reforms in the sheriff’s office.
8. ”New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for False Arrests” (December 20, 2013). Arpaio ordered the arrests of two PNT founders (Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin) in 2007. Both were arrested in the middle of the night and taken to jail. Their crime against humanity? They violated the secrecy of a grand jury. One of their reporters was investigating why Arpaio had more money than he was earning.
7. ”Joe Arpaio Avoids Getting “Lei’d” by Anti-Birther Activists” (May 24, 2012). Citizens for a Better Arizona (dressed in Hawaiian tourist-welcoming clothes) marched over to Arpaio’s office to demand that he not use taxpayer money to investigate Obama’s birth certificate. Arpaio was willing to meet with leader Randy Parraz alone in his office, with no cameras.
6. ”Victims Wonder Why Arpaio Let Sex-Abuse Cases Languish” (February 16, 2012). Between 2005 and 2007, the city of El Mirage, AZ, signed a contract and paid the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office $3.6 million for police services. The money was used for political purposes, and when women and girls were raped (like Levalya Beyart’s 13-year old daughter), the investigation was abysmal. (After calling in the rape, the MCSO never got in contact again.)
5. ”Pregnant Latina Said She Was Forced to Give Birth in Shackles” (October 22, 2009). Alma Chacón (10 days before her due date) was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy, who took her to jail because she was (1) driving without a license, (2) facing a misdemeanor shoplifting charge, and (3) an immigrant. When she started giving birth a few days later, she was put in shackles, taken to a hospital, gave birth, and was returned to the jail. (Notice that I didn’t say that they removed the shackles.) She didn’t see her baby again for two and a half months.
4. ”Joe Arpaio Goes Medieval” (February 4, 2009). To distract from an investigation of one of his captain’s campaign contribution, Arpaio ordered 200 “illegal immigrants” (read: Hispanics) to be chain-gang-marched into a section of Tent City that was surrounded by an electric fence. Largely, they were “unsentenced” (70% of Joe’s prisoners are waiting for trial).
3. ”A Phony Murder Plot Against Arpaio Costs Taxpayers $1.1 Million” (October 28, 2008). Arpaio framed James Saville for attempting to murder him in 1999. Part of this $1.1 million went for supplies like bombs, which were then planted. Saville spent four years in jail awaiting trial. Reason? So that Arpaio could get some TV time. A few months after the not-guilty verdict, Arpaio was re-elected.
2. ”Jailers Show a Paraplegic Who’s Boss” (January 23, 1997). There’s a special chair used to restrain unruly prisoners, like paraplegic Richard Post, because he repeatedly banged his wheelchair against the cell door. (He needed a nurse to fetch a catheter so that he could urinate.) Strapping him in, jailers damaged the lower portion of his body, requiring four months recuperation, and broke his neck.
If you need to buy a new keyboard now, I apologize. Tough as it is to read, I typed it all in. And dog lovers (or anyone who is remotely human) will certainly not appreciate the Top Reason why Arpaio should not be Senator ...
1. ”Dog Day Afternoon” (August 5, 2004). The Maricopa County SWAT team stormed Eric Kush’s house. They believed that the house contained a cache of stolen weapons. (They discovered only an antique shotgun and a 9 mm pistol.) Also, Kush was wanted for failing to appear in court for a couple of traffic citations. During the raid,
- They fired at least five tear gas canisters into the windows of the house. (At that point, neighbor Justin Delfino called 911, which reminds me of the line “We are the police!”)
- The $250K house burned to the ground, destroying everything inside it, and threatened to set nearby houses on fire. (The neighborhood was densely packed.)
- Did I mention that there wasn’t a fire truck standing by?
- A driver lost control of the personnel carrier — the brakes failed — but it stopped after smashing into a parked car. (Well, at least it was only one ...)
- And now the part about the dog … I desperately wish that this was fake news … A dog was trying to flee the inferno. A SWAT member drove it back into the house. To put it gently, it did not come out again. The dog’s owner cried hysterically. Deputies got a big laugh out of it, while hog-tying Kush.