President Donald Trump’s pardoning of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for failing to obey a judge’s order over the rounding up of undocumented immigrants, has caused outrage.
It has been seen by many as another racist dog whistle from Trump in order to prop up his anti-immigrant bonafides. It is also a travesty considering the many abuses prisoners in Arpaio’s jails experienced. Trump has incorrectly argued that Arpaio was punished simply for doing his job.
Trump was questioned about granting the pardon on Friday night, as Hurricane Harvey was hitting Texas, and said he did so because he “assumed the ratings would be far higher than they normally were,” due to coverage of the storm.
The response seems to be a defense of the old news dump on Friday in hopes no one notices move, but, as is usually the case with Trump, it was a tone deaf statement to mention ratings in conjunction with a natural disaster. Not only that, it is disingenuous considering the media coverage on all news stations was sure to be primarily focused on the hurricane.
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The Phoenix New Times went on an epic Twitter posting spree after Trump pardoned the sheriff, sharing the many reasons you should be up in arms over this latest miscarriage of justice.
We've been covering Joe Arpaio for more than 20 years. Here's a couple of things you should know about him… 1/many
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
He ran a jail that he described as a “concentration camp.” https://t.co/5MNt2lxOyw
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Prisoners there died at an alarming rate, often without explanation. https://t.co/wriqDix6EA
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
One of his jailers nearly broke the neck of a paraplegic guy who had the temerity to ask for a catheter. https://t.co/eySbTTJFph
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
One time, as a publicity stunt, he marched Latino prisoners into a segregated area with electric fencing. https://t.co/DYeyFUDhbD
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Here’s a couple of other examples of what went on in his jails: https://t.co/lX0xV7dyNg
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
He ran an ongoing “mugshot of the day” contest on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office website. https://t.co/n9hyv0u6Xd
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
He arrested New Times reporters for covering him. We won a $3.75 million settlement for that one. https://t.co/tB97Xtg5ig
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Under him, the MCSO failed to investigate hundreds of sex abuse cases, many of which involved children.https://t.co/CdsU0p9dZo
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
But he somehow found time and money to send a deputy to Hawaii to look for Barack Obama’s birth certificate. https://t.co/lVX595OVmX
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Oh, and one time he staged an assassination attempt against himself? That was weird. https://t.co/KboxuTwYXe
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
In 2013, a federal judge confirmed what literally everyone in Phoenix knew: he’d been racially profiling Latinos. https://t.co/2uYZLMdnwt
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
So naturally, he hired a PI to investigate the judge and his wife. https://t.co/e7Nf01R7vn
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
He also kept on profiling people, which is why he got charged with contempt of court (and was found to be guilty AF) https://t.co/PycurAtivk
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
He also tried to destroy some of the hard drives containing material that was supposed to be turned over the court. https://t.co/XKgR3SDWXd
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
By 2015, his fondness for racial profiling had cost the county more $44 million. On top of, you know, ruining lives. https://t.co/zlLg6kCsUf
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
He also paid millions to settle lawsuits like this one, where deputies stood by as an inmate was brutally beaten. https://t.co/WppUM1vPOs
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Because this is the Old West or something, he had a “Sheriff’s Posse.” One member got arrested on child porn charges https://t.co/FJosPbsdke
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
His office was responsible for countless fiascos like this botched SWAT raid, where deputies set a puppy on fire. https://t.co/Gb7MS5zare
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
