http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-pardon-joe-arpaio_us_599da366e4b0a296083b9758
Ryan J, Reilly reports on HuffPost:
“WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned a notorious former Arizona sheriff who willfully violated a federal judge’s order by unlawfully detaining individuals his officers claimed might be in the country illegally.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had previously proclaimed himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” was convicted of criminal contempt last month for violating a 2011 order that barred Arpaio and his office from detaining individuals solely based on suspicions about their legal status. Arpaio, 85, was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5.
“Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration,” the White House said in a statement late Friday. “Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is a worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.”
Trump’s pardon of Arpaio, the first of his presidency, amounts to a tacit endorsement of Arpaio’s discriminatory tactics and reads as a favor to a political ally. The media-savvy former sheriff, known for parading inmates around in pink underwear, supported the former reality TV star’s presidential campaign and spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. Both men were prominent promoters of the racist conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States.
Arpaio, who served as sheriff from 1993 through 2016, had long been accused of discriminatory practices against Latinos. A 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division concluded there was reasonable cause to believe that Arpaio and his office engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful policing and racial profiling. Arpaio’s officers called Latinos “wetbacks,” “Mexican bitches,” “fucking Mexicans” and “stupid Mexicans,” the Justice Department found, and Latino drivers were four to nine times as likely to be stopped by his officers as non-Latino drivers were. A lawsuit filed by the Justice Department was settled in 2015.
“With his pardon of Arpaio, Trump has chosen lawlessness over justice, division over unity, hurt over healing,” Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement Friday. “Once again, the president has acted in support of illegal, failed immigration enforcement practices that target people of color and have been struck down by the courts. His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism.”
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Trump’s actions speak for themselves!
PWS
08-25-17
In 2012 …”the GOP base was convinced Obama was a secret Muslim who had not been born in the USA and ineligible for president. Trump demanded the “long form birth certificate,” and tied for 1st place for the 2012 GOP nomination…
Obama released the form, …Trump set his White House plans aside until 2016… and the birther issue was taken up by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, … a sadistic lawman who paraded prisoners in pink underwear in 120-degree desert heat in what he called his
concentration camp.”
“Joe Arpaio sent out a five-man “cold case posse” to “authenticate” the long form birth certificate.Trump was very impressed and sent Arpaio congratulations on … the “finding.”…
Trump’s base may be a bit uncomfortable with coddling Nazis with torches, but pardoning a brutal, anti-immigrant cop is right in their wheelhouse.” See details at http://www.salon.com/2017/08/28/trumps-arpaio-pardon-sends-a-clear-signal-to-racist-brutal-cops-ive-got-your-back/
Sheriff Joe is more than just anti-immigrant. He’s a racist, a fascist, a hate monger, and an opponent of our Constitution and our democracy. And, he certainly got his “day in court” unlike some of those he abused, persecuted, and threatened. It doesn’t get much lower than picking on the most vulnerable in society while being unwilling to go after real crime. He’s a disgrace.
Best,
P