The sheriff cemented his status as U.S.A.'s favorite politician with the VFW speech, and anyone speaking out against his policies met with U.S.A.'s wrath.
After Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon denounced Arpaio's racial profiling and links to bigots and neo-Nazis exposed by New Times, some U.S.A. regulars formed a group called American Citizens United, which organized a recall effort against Gordon. The effort was unsuccessful, even though U.S.A. members circulated petitions and drove cars around town pasted with signs demanding Gordon's removal from office.
Stephen Lemons
"Harry," a.k.a. "Vandal," prefers to be called a National Socialist instead of a neo-Nazi.
Stephen Lemons
"Buffalo" Rick Galeener, one of U.S.A.'s most outspoken members.
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The leader of the campaign against the mayor was Anna Gaines. Though she had stormed out of the April 10 U.S.A. meeting over the continued presence of neo-Nazi Hall, she was fully backed in her effort to recall Gordon by Rusty Childress and the U.S.A. faithful. Ironically, Gaines was cited on a trespassing charge by local police for gathering recall signatures at a bookstore where Arpaio was signing copies of his "autobiography," Joe's Law. She was later found not guilty of the charge.
Though the recall effort failed, U.S.A. members weren't finished with Gordon. On the afternoon of Sunday, October 26, they took the unusual step of picketing Gordon's residence. Gordon was not at home, but the nativists did manage to spook children at a Halloween party going on at a neighbor's house. One of their signs read: "Phil Gordon, you piece of shit!"
Gordon spokesman Scott Phelps offered a wry analysis after the demonstration:
"You know the saying, 'If you lift a rock, you'll find a snake?' Well, if you lift up a snake, you'll find United for a Sovereign America."
Days after the protest at Gordon's home, U.S.A. joined with Minuteman Civil Defense Corps founder and current U.S. Senate hopeful Chris Simcox to give the sheriff a plaque on the lawn of the Arizona Capitol. Actually, the plaque was given by a California group called the "National Veterans Coalition," a shill for the far-right Constitution Party, which is allied with the equally conservative John Birch Society. Still, the majority of those present were from U.S.A., including Galeener and Barb Heller.
Called the "America First Award," the engraved wooden plaque reads that it was presented to Arpaio for his "departmental policy against illegal immigration and standing up for America." Arpaio appeared in his full sheriff's uniform, including gun and badge, to accept the plaque.
In December 2008, Arpaio accepted a similar award from Simcox, after a speech the sheriff gave at Arizona's American-Italian Club in Phoenix before a crowd of U.S.A. members and Minutemen. Simcox, a nativist with a conviction for carrying a firearm into a national park, supported Arpaio's 2008 re-election bid. Many anticipate that Arpaio will return the favor by endorsing Simcox's challenge to U.S. Senator John McCain in the 2010 Republican primary.
During his speech at the American-Italian Club, Arpaio noted the presence of Anna Gaines in the crowd, and he offered her his special protection in the fallout from her failed Gordon recall and her trespassing charge.
"If anybody gives you any threats over this situation, call me," Arpaio informed her before the adoring crowd. "We'll take care of it."
Like Arpaio himself, the MCSO is quick to show favoritism to United for a Sovereign America, and there is evidence that they act in concert, with the MCSO sometimes instructing U.S.A. members on what to do and how to comport themselves.
Acting as a go-between is 52-year-old U.S.A. member Barb Heller, who reports to the group from contacts inside the Sheriff's Office. Heller, to put it mildly, is a Joe Arpaio fanatic, who attends almost every pro-Arpaio demonstration, and once (wearing a tank top) painted "Go Joe" on her upper chest for an event — a photo she proudly displays on her MySpace page.
On the first night of the sheriff's recent anti-immigrant sweep in Avondale, Heller was present with about 30 U.S.A. members and assorted nativists. Sharing the same sidewalk in front of the sheriff's command post were about 100 anti-Arpaio protesters. The MCSO provided no crowd control, though the two sides harangued each other incessantly.
Late in the evening, an MCSO sergeant placed an orange traffic pylon in the middle of the sidewalk and warned the anti-Joe side against passing this new boundary. When one activist playfully moved the cone, the sergeant returned with MCSO SWAT Captain David Letourneau, who warned that anyone who touched the cone would be arrested. Asked what the charge would be, Letourneau stated, "Whatever we can think of."
The entire exchange is captured in a video posted on YouTube and can be seen at www.phoenixnewtimes.com (view here). Neither Letourneau nor the sergeant advised the nativists not to cross the MCSO's pylon-marked boundary, only the anti-Arpaio faction.
The MCSO apparently was in contact with Heller via cell phone. After everyone dispersed, she and another nativist approached the deputies and spoke with them near their command post, a move that surely would have gotten the anti-Arpaio protesters thrown in jail. At a U.S.A. meeting following the exchange, Heller stated that she had received a phone call about 11:30 p.m. asking that she and the group leave so that the protesters would leave and the deputies could go home. She also mentioned that her "friend on the squad" called her later that night and informed her that MCSO deputies were called back out to investigate a home invasion in the area.