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| Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, former sheriff convicted in racial profiling case | Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, former sheriff convicted in racial profiling case |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Donald Trump has pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio, the hardline Arizona lawman who was convicted of contempt of court in July for defying a judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos. | Donald Trump has pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio, the hardline Arizona lawman who was convicted of contempt of court in July for defying a judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos. |
| Trump had signaled his intention to grant the pardon at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday evening, when he suggested Arpaio was “convicted for doing his job”. | Trump had signaled his intention to grant the pardon at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday evening, when he suggested Arpaio was “convicted for doing his job”. |
| Arpaio’s life and career “exemplify selfless public service”, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Saunders said in a statement Friday night, adding: “After more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.” | |
| “I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio,” Trump later wrote on Twitter. “He kept Arizona safe!” | |
| In an interview with the Arizona Republic moments after his pardon was publicly announced, Arpaio hinted at a return to politics. | In an interview with the Arizona Republic moments after his pardon was publicly announced, Arpaio hinted at a return to politics. |
| “I told my wife that I was through with politics,” he told the paper. “But now I’ve decided I’m not through with politics because of what’s happening. I didn’t ask for a pardon. It has nothing to do with a pardon. I’ve been saying this for the last couple of months. I’ve got a lot to offer.” | “I told my wife that I was through with politics,” he told the paper. “But now I’ve decided I’m not through with politics because of what’s happening. I didn’t ask for a pardon. It has nothing to do with a pardon. I’ve been saying this for the last couple of months. I’ve got a lot to offer.” |
| Arpaio said his age would not slow him: “Everybody puts my age. I can outgun anyone.” | Arpaio said his age would not slow him: “Everybody puts my age. I can outgun anyone.” |
| Over his 24-year tenure as sheriff of Maricopa county, Arpaio gained notoriety for detaining hundreds of undocumented immigrants in a Tent City jail and forcing them to wear pink underwear. The sheriff courted controversy and media attention – calling his own jail a “concentration camp”, serving inmates just two meals a day and selling replica pink underwear to the public – as he became a national figurehead for the virulent xenophobia that Trump embraced in his presidential campaign. | Over his 24-year tenure as sheriff of Maricopa county, Arpaio gained notoriety for detaining hundreds of undocumented immigrants in a Tent City jail and forcing them to wear pink underwear. The sheriff courted controversy and media attention – calling his own jail a “concentration camp”, serving inmates just two meals a day and selling replica pink underwear to the public – as he became a national figurehead for the virulent xenophobia that Trump embraced in his presidential campaign. |
| In November, amid a surge in Latino voters, the then 84-year-old lost his bid to win a seventh term. | In November, amid a surge in Latino voters, the then 84-year-old lost his bid to win a seventh term. |
| While many local law enforcement agencies leave immigration matters to the federal agency charged with enforcing them, the Maricopa sheriff’s department aggressively pursued the arrest of undocumented immigrants under Arpaio. | While many local law enforcement agencies leave immigration matters to the federal agency charged with enforcing them, the Maricopa sheriff’s department aggressively pursued the arrest of undocumented immigrants under Arpaio. |
| His criminal conviction stems from his 2011 refusal to comply with a judge’s order to halt the practice of engaging in traffic stops that targeted Latino drivers. Arpaio continued the traffic patrols for nearly a year and a half after the court order. Federal prosecutors charged him with misdemeanor contempt of court in 2016, arguing that his defiance of the order was politically motivated. | His criminal conviction stems from his 2011 refusal to comply with a judge’s order to halt the practice of engaging in traffic stops that targeted Latino drivers. Arpaio continued the traffic patrols for nearly a year and a half after the court order. Federal prosecutors charged him with misdemeanor contempt of court in 2016, arguing that his defiance of the order was politically motivated. |
| Arpaio had been scheduled to be sentenced in October and could have faced up to six months in jail. | Arpaio had been scheduled to be sentenced in October and could have faced up to six months in jail. |
| Trump said on Tuesday that he was waiting to issue the pardon because he did not “want to cause any controversy”. | Trump said on Tuesday that he was waiting to issue the pardon because he did not “want to cause any controversy”. |
| But not even an impending hurricane could prevent the onslaught of outrage at the presidential pardon in a country still reeling from the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville and Trump’s equivocation on denouncing neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. | But not even an impending hurricane could prevent the onslaught of outrage at the presidential pardon in a country still reeling from the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville and Trump’s equivocation on denouncing neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. |
| “By pardoning Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump has sent another disturbing signal to an emboldened white nationalist movement that this White House supports racism and bigotry,” the American Civil Liberties Union tweeted. The ACLU represented Latino residents of Maricopa county in the lawsuit that resulted in Arpaio’s contempt conviction. | “By pardoning Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump has sent another disturbing signal to an emboldened white nationalist movement that this White House supports racism and bigotry,” the American Civil Liberties Union tweeted. The ACLU represented Latino residents of Maricopa county in the lawsuit that resulted in Arpaio’s contempt conviction. |
| In a statement, ACLU deputy legal director Cecilia Wang called the pardon “a presidential endorsement of racism”. | In a statement, ACLU deputy legal director Cecilia Wang called the pardon “a presidential endorsement of racism”. |
| Maria Castro, a community organizer with Puente Arizona, a group that was central to the campaign against Arpaio, said Trump’s pardon had revealed his true colors. | Maria Castro, a community organizer with Puente Arizona, a group that was central to the campaign against Arpaio, said Trump’s pardon had revealed his true colors. |
| “We’ve been calling him a white supremacist and now he’s showing the rest of the country what we already knew,” she told the Guardian. | “We’ve been calling him a white supremacist and now he’s showing the rest of the country what we already knew,” she told the Guardian. |
| “The people who actually deserve this pardon are the people who were in Tent City and who had to endure the 120-degree summer heat and who were victims of his rage,” she said. “They deserve the pardon, not him.” | “The people who actually deserve this pardon are the people who were in Tent City and who had to endure the 120-degree summer heat and who were victims of his rage,” she said. “They deserve the pardon, not him.” |
| Though the US constitution empowers the president to grant pardons, constitutional scholars have been sharply critical of the idea of pardoning Arpaio due to the nature of his crime – defying a federal judge’s order to cease engaging in unconstitutional behavior. Such a pardon would be “an assault on the federal judiciary, the constitution and the rule of law itself”, Harvard law professor Noah Feldman wrote in Bloomberg. | Though the US constitution empowers the president to grant pardons, constitutional scholars have been sharply critical of the idea of pardoning Arpaio due to the nature of his crime – defying a federal judge’s order to cease engaging in unconstitutional behavior. Such a pardon would be “an assault on the federal judiciary, the constitution and the rule of law itself”, Harvard law professor Noah Feldman wrote in Bloomberg. |
| Trump has frequently raised concerns about his respect for the judiciary – a coequal branch of government with the executive. During his campaign, Trump said that a federal judge of Mexican heritage was incapable of ruling fairly over a case involving Trump University. He also repeatedly lambasted judges who ruled against the travel ban. | Trump has frequently raised concerns about his respect for the judiciary – a coequal branch of government with the executive. During his campaign, Trump said that a federal judge of Mexican heritage was incapable of ruling fairly over a case involving Trump University. He also repeatedly lambasted judges who ruled against the travel ban. |
| The reaction among Arizona lawmakers was sharply divided. | The reaction among Arizona lawmakers was sharply divided. |
| Arizona senator Jeff Flake, who Trump has called “toxic”, reacted on Twitter: “Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.” | Arizona senator Jeff Flake, who Trump has called “toxic”, reacted on Twitter: “Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.” |
| After criticizing Flake, without saying his name, during the Phoenix rally, Trump tweeted “Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!” The president has praised Flake’s primary challenger, Kelli Ward. Ward tweeted a photo of herself with Arpaio, with a message thanking the president for pardoning the former sheriff, who she called “a patriot who did the job the Feds refused to do”. | After criticizing Flake, without saying his name, during the Phoenix rally, Trump tweeted “Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!” The president has praised Flake’s primary challenger, Kelli Ward. Ward tweeted a photo of herself with Arpaio, with a message thanking the president for pardoning the former sheriff, who she called “a patriot who did the job the Feds refused to do”. |
| Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton, who had accused Trump of stoking racial tensions with his Phoenix rally, called the pardon a “slap in the face to the people of Maricopa County, especially the Latino community and those he victimized as he systematically and illegally violated their civil rights”. | Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton, who had accused Trump of stoking racial tensions with his Phoenix rally, called the pardon a “slap in the face to the people of Maricopa County, especially the Latino community and those he victimized as he systematically and illegally violated their civil rights”. |
| Republican congressman Paul Gosar welcomed the pardon, saying in a statement that it “reflects the very reason we voted President Trump into the Oval Office, to uphold the rule of law”. | Republican congressman Paul Gosar welcomed the pardon, saying in a statement that it “reflects the very reason we voted President Trump into the Oval Office, to uphold the rule of law”. |
| But Democratic congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema said on Twitter: “I am dismayed by the President’s decision to pardon Joe Arpaio. Arpaio hurt Arizonans and cost taxpayers a great amount of grief and money. He should be held accountable. No one is above the law.” | But Democratic congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema said on Twitter: “I am dismayed by the President’s decision to pardon Joe Arpaio. Arpaio hurt Arizonans and cost taxpayers a great amount of grief and money. He should be held accountable. No one is above the law.” |
| Arizona congressman Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, was more pointed, saying on Twitter that he was not surprised: “Racists always back up racists.” |