5 Horrible Facts About The Notoriously Racist Sheriff Pardoned By Trump

Posted on by MotherWise
Trump Just Pardoned Notorious Racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio

In a move which firmly cements his reputation as a white supremacist, Donald Trump has pardoned controversial ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio of his criminal contempt charges.

Joe Arpaio was sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, from 1993 to 2016. His time in that role was rife with an incredible amount of corruption scandals, and in 2016, Arpaio was found to be in contempt of court after refusing to halt his racial profiling program.

On August 25th, 2017, Trump issued a pardon, calling Arpaio a “worthy candidate.”

This “worthy candidate” has been accused of unconstitutional abuse and multiple other issues throughout his entire career. These scandals include:

  • Unconstitutional jail conditions – In 2008 and 2010, a federal judge ruled that Arpaio’s jails routinely violated inmates’ constitutional rights. The lawsuits found that Arpaio “abused pre-trial detainees at Maricopa County Jail by feeding them moldy bread, rotten fruit and other contaminated food, housing them in cells so hot as to endanger their health, denying them care for serious medical and mental health needs, and keeping them packed as tightly as sardines in holding cells for days at a time during intake.” The accusations also included overcrowding and refusing inmates access to healthcare and medications.
  • Fake assassination plot – Taxpayers spent $1,102,528.50, and an innocent man spent four years in jail after Arpaio and his staff framed the man in a staged an assassination plot.
  • Multiple failures to investigate sex crimes – Reports showed that at least 400 sex-crime cases were inadequately investigated. The stories of the people who suffered due to Arpaio’s abject failure are devastating.
  • Abuse of power – Arpaio has faced several charges of abuse of power. He has been accused of targeting civilians and politicians with bogus charges. Arpaio had two reporters of the Phoenix New Times arrested after they published a story on his corruption; the reporters sued and won $3.75 million.
  • Racial profiling – Arpaio has been accused for years of racial profiling. The Justice Department accused the sheriff of “unconstitutional policing,” which included targeting Latinx people and retaliating against those who complained. His continued racial profiling earned him criminal contempt charges. Trump then pardoned him.

The list goes on and on. In a phenomenal takedown of former sheriff Arpaio, the Phoenix New Times recounted the plethora of corruption they’ve covered. In an epic Twitter thread, the newspaper — which has been writing about Joe Arpaio for over 20 years — outlined the many scandals.

 

You can read the entire thread here.

And now we are left to wonder: How can Trump supporters possibly excuse this? The blatantly racist ones will gleefully support this appalling choice — but what about the “moderate” ones? The ones who claim to have voted for him because he planned to drain the swamp, or for supposed fiscal reason — how can you overlook this? What possible excuse can there be? The sheriff was found guilty of contempt for refusing to stop racial profiling. Trump’s decision to pardon this incredibly problematic, unprofessional, and dangerous man comes just days after Trump openly stated his support of the “very fine people” who marched amongst white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Related: White People: Here’s How You Can Help After The Racist Attack In Virginia

It is beyond time to denounce Trump and demand his resignation or impeachment. Call your representatives now! You can find instructions and a sample script here.

Image credit: Gage Skidmore 

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