Sheriff Joe - Convicted for Just Doing His Job?

"I am so smart... believe me!"

“Well, I am not a racist, in fact, I am the least racist person that you’ve ever encountered.”

Donald Trump

If you had the slightest doubt about Donald Trump’s biases and bigotry – unless nothing logical is ever going to convince you otherwise – his post-Charlottesville tweets, statements to the press and actions should provide unequivocal proof of his rather deep and obvious antipathy for blacks, Jews (even as his daughter converted) and Hispanics. His Attorney General’s new priority – “law and order” over “equal justice” accompanied by terminating DOJ investigations of police departments with terrible race-relations records – is a harsh reflection of Mr. Trump’s true beliefs. As noble as “law and order” may seem, it has long since developed a not-so-subtle connotation of elevating white traditionalists over everyone else, giving police carte blanche to roust people of color.

While some may argue that Trump’s first pardon, of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was just based on keeping an old man with decades of government service out of jail – wink, wink – I suspect if subjected to a lie detector test, you wouldn’t find a whole lot of people with that “nice-nice” opinion.  Sheriff Joe was the Judge Roy Bean of the modern era… enforcing the law as he defined the law. Living in a major city in the highly Latino Southwest, Arpaio pushed his officers to engage in rather obvious racial profiling, particularly any indicia of Hispanic status.

He also created the expensive-to-maintain and very notorious “Tent City” Maricopa County (Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale) jail, forcing inmates to wear pink garb, making sure that every minute they spent in this short-term facility would be miserable. “Inmates slept outdoors in surplus Army tents even when temperatures inside reached 125 degrees [or more] during brutal Arizona summers. Arpaio was fond of Tent City–focused publicity stunts like when, in 2009, he sent out a press release to announce a parade of 200 immigrants who were made to cross a public street to transfer themselves from a detention center to Tent City, which was itself surrounded by electrified fencing.

“‘This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape,’ Arpaio said at the time. ‘But this is a fence they won’t want to scale because they risk receiving a shock—literally’…

“[In early April], Maricopa County’s newly elected sheriff, Paul Penzone, announced that he would phase out the use of the headline-grabbing jail. ‘This facility became more of a circus atmosphere for the general public,’ Penzone said at a press conference... ‘Starting today [4/11], that circus ends and these tents come down.’

“Billed by Arpaio through the years as a cost-saving measure and then touted as a crime deterrent, Tent City fulfilled neither of those promises. Closing the underutilized facility, Penzone said, will, in fact, save the county $4.5 million a year, The Arizona Republic reported.” The Nation, April 12^th. Having lost his last election to Penzone, Arpaio was also convicted for criminal contempt (he continued his racial profiling policy and refused to implement a federal court order to the contrary) during his term and, at the time of his pardon, was facing sentencing – likely a 6 month term. Sheriff Joe made no secret of his antipathy for undocumented aliens.

“Arpaio has long been a divisive figure at the center of the debate over illegal immigration… During his more than two decades as Maricopa County sheriff, which came to an end after he failed to win reelection in November, he ordered his officers to stop drivers simply on the suspicion that they were in the country illegally, sometimes leading to the detention of Latinos who were citizens.

“In 2011, a federal judge ordered Arpaio and his deputies not to racially profile Latinos. A year later the Justice Department sued Arpaio, alleging a pattern of illegal discrimination against Latinos… That only elevated his stature in the movement against illegal immigration… Trump understood that as well as any politician, and early in his campaign he called Arpaio a friend and ally in fighting illegal immigration.” Los Angeles Times, August 27^th. But Donald Trump’s unabashed support for racists and racism has set racial relations back to the struggles of the 1950s-70s, when the civil rights movement was born and grew… the time Trump to which has promised to return America under his “Make America Great” mantra.

“To President Trump and many of his supporters, Joe Arpaio is a national hero whose aggressive pursuit of people in the country illegally and cooperation with federal immigration authorities should be a model for cities and counties around the country… ‘Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?’ Trump asked at a raucous campaign-style rally in Phoenix last week, three days before pardoning the 85-year-old former Arizona sheriff.

“The pardon of Arpaio — who was convicted of criminal contempt in July for flouting a court order to stop racial profiling of Latinos while he was sheriff — has galvanized Trump’s political base around an issue that was at the center of his presidential campaign… But for civil rights advocates, who believe that local authorities should not enforce federal immigration laws, the pardon was an endorsement of illegal tactics and will only serve to deepen racial tensions.

“‘Arpaio built his work on terror and fear,’ said Alejandra Gomez, co-executive director of the Arizona-based Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, an immigrant rights group. ‘Arpaio targeted the immigrant community, separating thousands of families. Arpaio built the foundation for Trump’s agenda.’” LA Times. Trump’s growing support for white supremacy and his strong stance against people of color are appalling.

On August 28^th, when asked about the timing of the announced pardon, the President responded: “And actually, in the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I figured the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally. You know, the hurricane was just starting. And I put it out that we pardoned, as we say, Sheriff Joe.” He really said that. Ratings? Seriously?

Not only are Dems shocked at Trump’s pardon of criminally-convicted, racist, Joe Arpaio but so are many prominent Republicans. Arizona’s own GOP Senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain were hardly supportive. McCain stated: ““No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

Even the GOP House Speaker opposes the President’s pardon: “"The speaker does not agree with this decision,” said Doug Andres, a spokesman for Ryan. “Law enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon." Fox News, August 26^th. God help you in this country if you are not white… Jim Crow is crowing.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I am sure that this pardon only raises Donald Trump’s stature with neo-Nazis, KKK members and other white supremacists, apparently a very important part of his constituency.