Please Read This Twitter Thread About Terrible Human Being Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Politics Features Joe Arpaio
You’ve probably read by now that Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been pardoned by Donald Trump, thus overturning a conviction for criminal contempt. If you want to read an in-depth profile of a man who represents the worst in American cruelty and xenophobia, William Finnegan’s stunning 2009 New Yorker profile is well worth your time. But the best place to start today is on Twitter, where the Phoenix New Times, whose reporters have been arrested by Arpaio for trying to cover him, outlined the extent of this man’s monstrous sadism—and no, that’s not an exaggeration.
Please give them a follow, and read the tweets below for an education on the man Trump just pardoned.
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
So, yeah, that’s who Trump just pardoned. You can read all our coverage of Arpaio over the years here: https://t.co/7JkmOEVPWW
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) August 26, 2017
Great pardon, right? As for Arpaio, he’s now trying to get his fans to pay off his legal fees.