Donald Trump is copping it from civil rights organisations yet again, this time for using his very first Presidential pardon to excuse 85-year-old former Arizona sheriff and terrible arsehole Joe Arpaio. A man who styled himself as “America’s toughest sheriff“, Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt last month for continuing to illegally profile Latinos in direct violation of a judge’s orders.
Trump pardoned Arpaio on Friday, meaning that the known racist will avoid any jail time for his alarming (and illegal) racial profiling tactics, which he says were merely an enforcement of immigration laws, and which Trump appears to believe “kept Arizona safe“.
I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017
Arpaio was notorious for intentionally humiliating prisoners at a jail that came to be known as Tent City. He would force inmates to wear pink underwear and old-style black-and-white striped uniforms, live outside in tents in the desert heat, and go without coffee, salt or pepper.
Those criticising Arpaio’s pardoning are concerned that it will send a message to other cops that they can, essentially, do whatever they want and suffer exactly zero consequences; many have also noted that Arpaio was a vocal supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign from the very start.
The Phoenix New Times has extensively covered the many ghastly acts Arpaio has committed over the last two decades, and the Twitter thread below is well worth a read if you need some context for exactly why so many people are condemning Trump’s blatant croneyism:
We’ve been covering Joe Arpaio for more than 20 years. Here’s a couple of things you should know about him… 1/many
— Phoenix New Times (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, both Republican, are among those who have slammed Trump’s decision, along with Bernie Sanders, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, the ACLU, and the HRC.
.@POTUS‘s pardon of Joe Arpaio, who illegally profiled Latinos, undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law https://t.co/2FckGtwQ2m
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 26, 2017
Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) August 26, 2017
By pardoning Sheriff Arpaio, Trump has again made clear he will use the powers of the presidency to defend racism and discrimination.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 26, 2017
As seen tonight w/pardon of racist, anti-immigrant,anti-LGBTQ Joe Arpaio, Trump-Pence continue to push dangerous, hateful vision for America
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 26, 2017
President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism. https://t.co/czMtATWWDn
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 26, 2017
With his pardon pen, POTUS reveals his own contempt for our Constitution, our courts, and our founding principles of equality and justice.
— Sally Yates (@SallyQYates) August 26, 2017
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton on Arpaio pardon: “Joe Arpaio illegally targeted and terrorized Latino families…Donald Trump can’t change that”
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 26, 2017
The pardon comes just days after horrifying racist demonstrations in Charlottesville that left one woman dead after a white nationalist terror attack.
