Tag: Joe Arpaio

Was former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio’s criminal conviction an Obama ‘political witch hunt’?

The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website August 30, 2017:

Joe Arpaio’s illegal-immigration crackdown made him a polarizing figure and an early ally of President Trump. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“He is loved in Arizona. I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly when they came down with their big decision to go get him right before the election voting started, as you know. And he lost in a fairly close election. He would’ve won the election, but they just hammered him just before the election. I thought that was a very, very unfair thing to do.”
— President Trump, news conference, Aug. 28, 2017

“Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department!”
— Former sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, post on Twitter, Aug. 25, 2017 Continue reading “Was former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio’s criminal conviction an Obama ‘political witch hunt’?”

Trump Eyed ‘Far Higher’ Ratings in Pardoning Joe Arpaio as Hurricane Hit

The following article by Glen Thrush and Julie Hirshfield Davis was posted on the New York Times website August 28, 2017:

In a joint news conference with the president of Finland, President Trump defended his controversial pardoning of the former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. By WHITEHOUSE.GOV on August 28, 2017. Photo by Al Drago for The New York Times.

WASHINGTON — President Trump offered a fiery defense on Monday of his decision to pardon Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff, as Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas last week — and claimed he timed it to attract maximum attention as television viewers were glued to storm coverage. Continue reading “Trump Eyed ‘Far Higher’ Ratings in Pardoning Joe Arpaio as Hurricane Hit”

Donald Trump just resurrected Joe Arpaio from irrelevance

The following editorial from the Editorial Board of the Arizona Republic was posted on the paper’s website August 25, 2017:

Editorial: Donald Trump said he was going to pardon former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. But knowing in advance didn’t soften the blow to Latinos – and equal justice.

Credit: John Moore

While America was talking about tearing down monuments that offend historically oppressed people, Donald Trump effectively erected yet another one.

His pardon of Joe Arpaio elevated the disgraced former Maricopa County sheriff to monument status among the immigration hardliners and nationalists in Trump’s base.

This erases any doubt about whether Trump meant to empower them after the violence in Charlottesville. Continue reading “Donald Trump just resurrected Joe Arpaio from irrelevance”

Arpaio pardon could encourage more civil rights violations

The following article by Steven Mulroy was posted on the Conversation website August 23, 2017:

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is joined by Joe Arpaio at a campaign event. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

President Donald Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who illegally used racial profiling to enforce immigration laws, on Aug. 25.

It’s true, Trump has the legal power to pardon pretty much anyone. But pardoning Arpaio may send the message that state and local officials can aggressively enforce federal immigration law, even if it risks racial profiling and violating the due process rights of citizens and noncitizens.

Legal limits on immigration enforcement

Arpaio has long been known for his harsh practices like requiring inmates to work on chain gangs and live in outdoor tent cities in the scorching Arizona heat. He prioritized immigration enforcement at the expense of crimes like sexual assault. Continue reading “Arpaio pardon could encourage more civil rights violations”

Trump asked Sessions about closing case against Arpaio, an ally since ‘birtherism’

The following article by Philip Rucker and Ellen Nakashima was posted on the Washington Post website August 26, 2017:

Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio gestures to the crowd while delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016, in Cleveland. (John Moore)

As Joseph Arpaio’s federal case headed toward trial this past spring, President Trump wanted to act to help the former Arizona county sheriff who had become a campaign-trail companion and a partner in their crusade against illegal immigration.

The president asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions whether it would be possible for the government to drop the criminal case against Arpaio, but was advised that would be inappropriate, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation.

After talking with Sessions, Trump decided to let the case go to trial, and if Arpaio was convicted, he could grant clemency. Continue reading “Trump asked Sessions about closing case against Arpaio, an ally since ‘birtherism’”

Trump’s pardon of Arpaio fits a pattern: A divider, not a uniter

The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website August 26, 2017:

President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio Aug. 25. Here’s what you need to know. (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)

President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That’s one obvious message from Friday’s decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Continue reading “Trump’s pardon of Arpaio fits a pattern: A divider, not a uniter”

The Joe Arpaio I Knew

The following article by Ryan Gabrielson was posted on the ProPublica website August 15, 2017:

The former Maricopa County sheriff made his name in part by targeting immigrants — even after a judge ordered him to stop. As President Trump considers a pardon, it’s worth remembering precisely what Arpaio did in his decades in law enforcement.

Joe Arpaio, then sheriff of Maricopa County, spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, 2016. Credit: John Moore, Getty Images.

For most of Joe Arpaio’s two-plus decades as Maricopa County sheriff, he directed operations from the top floor of a downtown Phoenix tower, worlds away from the jails overseen by rank and-file deputies. The executive offices wrapped around an expansive conference room, where I spent weeks in early 2008 with banker boxes full of arrest records, and hanging out with Arpaio himself, a politician who built his career on bashing immigrants long before the rise of Donald Trump.

Back then, I was working for the East Valley Tribune, then a daily newspaper in the Phoenix area. I had filed a public records request for all documents from deputies’ immigration operations. Teamed with Paul Giblin, a fellow Tribune reporter, we were trying to figure out how the sheriff was enforcing immigration laws, and what effect their monomaniacal focus was having on regular police work — like solving crimes. Arpaio had long before achieved national notoriety for making prisoners wear pink underwear and housing them in an outdoor tent city so hot that the inmates’ shoes melted. Continue reading “The Joe Arpaio I Knew”