Trump Pardons Disgraced Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, recently convicted on federal contempt charges for violating a court order forbidding his racial profiling tactics, has been pardoned by President Trump.

In 2016 the 83-year-old Sheriff, an early and ardent Trump supporter, failed to win re-election after 23 years in office, despite having armed deputies assigned to polling places in an effort to intimidate Mexican-American voters. While elderly Arpaio failed at the polls, his voter suppression effort helped deliver more votes for Donald Trump in Maricopa County than any other county in America. One more reason for Mr. Trump’s bromance with the law-breaking ex-lawman.

President Trump was so eager to get “Sheriff Joe” off the hook, he asked Jeff Sessions to drop the case before Arpaio was convicted.

More:

“Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, former sheriff convicted in racial profiling case,” Julia Carrie Wong, The Guardian

“Trump pardons `Sheriff Joe’ for defying court orders to halt racial profiling,” Todd J. Gilman, Dallas News

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Armed Poll Watchers

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, facing federal charges for continuing racial profiling, plans to station armed deputies at polling stations on election day in what is clearly an act of intimidation targeting latino voters. Not only is the 83-year-old Sheriff a firm Trump supporter, he’s up for re-election himself on November 8th. Mr. Arpaio, who has held office for the past 23 years, is trailing badly in the polls, so by suppressing the Mexican-American vote he helps himself as much as the GOP presidential candidate.

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They Gave a Tea Party, But Nobody Came.

“The Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots group has pulled the plug on Pat Boone and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, cancelling their Sept. 22 ‘Birther’ bash at the city’s Celebrity Theatre ‘due to inadequate ticket sales.’

The venue’s website touts an ‘intimate atmosphere of this 2,650-seat theater in the round’ with an ‘extremely rare revolving stage.’

Prices of entry ranged from $10, for tickets purchased in advance, to $25 if you wanted a ‘Meet and Greet’ with the Maricopa County sheriff, who is pushing for a ‘Congressional investigation into the fraudulent documents produced by the [Obama] administration.”

“Pat Boone and Sheriff Joe’s Arizona ‘Birther’ Party Scrapped,” Gregory J. Krieg, ABC News

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Image (“’Tea Party’ and ‘Crazy’ are Not Mutually Exclusive”) by Mike Licht, after Sir John Tenniel. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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