"Thanks, William," he and other deputies called out as they left, with two revelers in custody for underage drinking and other party-goers looking on.
"I'm not helping you. I'm against you guys," Robles retorted.
Stephen Lemons
Guadalupe activist William Robles with his drum.
Courtesy of William Robles
MCSO Deputy Loren Gaytan being videotaped while harassing Robles on the street.
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Gaytan — who also helped out on the MCSO's mysterious training operations in Honduras a couple of years ago and was, until recently, a federally deputized 287(g)-man — practically guaranteed with his statements that Robles would get jumped that night.
Indeed, as Robles walked home, four individuals attacked him from behind, smashing him on the head with a beer bottle, leaving a scar. They fought with Robles for about three minutes before running off.
When Shepherd was informed of Gaytan's pernicious lies and their aftermath, he wanted Robles to make a report on the assault.
"What's the point of talking to the sheriffs?" Robles wondered, when told of Shepherd's statement. "They're the ones who started this mess."
Andrew Sanchez said the MCSO was trying to turn people against the nascent Citizens Camera Crew. He promised a public-information campaign to get the word out about the MCSO's plan and said the group would take a hiatus until they could be sure of members' safety.
Sanchez's family and the retaliation they've suffered at the hands of the MCSO for their activism was documented in a New Times cover story by Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey. It is part of our series "Are Your Papers in Order?"
As many in Maricopa County are aware, investigators with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's Department of Justice have been in town, looking into violations of civil rights and police abuse by Arpaio's MCSO.
Might I suggest they speak with William Robles and focus their attention for a moment on one Deputy Gaytan, who with his insidious prevarications, could have caused permanent injury, perhaps even death.
HATE SPEECH
Virtually everyone who's anyone in Arizona's bigot community was present last week for a hate rally on the lawn of the state Capitol. Foremost was neo-Nazi-hugging, brown-bashing state Senator Russell Pearce, who is leading the campaign to put anti-Mexican apartheid bills on the ballot in 2010.
The bills would compel state law enforcement agencies to enforce — contrary to federal code — immigration law and make it a crime to be in Arizona without proper documentation.
Why doesn't Pearce just write a law making all Hispanics subject to search and detainment? That would be the practical effect of his racist proposals. Not that I want to give the guy, who once forwarded an e-mail from the neo-Nazi National Alliance to his supporters, any ideas.
Pearce duped the press into showing up by suggesting the governor call a special session of the Legislature to deal with immigration. Of course, this is not going to happen while the brain surgeons in the House and Senate try to solve the state's financial crisis. So, at the rally, Pearce instead focused on putting an initiative on the 2010 ballot, either through legislation or petition.
Pearce couldn't get these same proposals through the last session of the Legislature, even with a Republican majority in place. But Pearce is Arizona's Energizer Bunny of bigotry, driven by a thirst for revenge. See, back in the day, Pearce was shot by a Latino as he worked in Guadalupe as an MCSO deputy. And in 2004, his son Sean Pearce, now an MCSO deputy, was shot by a Latino while serving a search warrant.
For Pearce, the two incidents are casus belli against an entire ethnicity. And lest reporters forget, Pearce made sure, in a handout at the event at the Capitol, there was a 2004 news article from the East Valley Tribune mentioning the shootings of him and his son.
"[This is] a campaign that I intend to continue until it's resolved," Pearce declared.
Pearce intends to "resolve" the issue of immigration by criminalizing a class of human beings. His past unsuccessful legislative efforts focused on keeping Americans from marrying non-Americans and preventing children born in the United States to undocumented parents from getting birth certificates, even though such children are American citizens by virtue of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Who plans to help Pearce with his dubiously named "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act"? Why, all the usual suspects who participated in this prejudice powwow.
Former congressman and current talk-radio host J.D. Hayworth was there. Also County Attorney Andrew Thomas, whose office claims that an 18 percent drop in crime in Maricopa County is attributable to his persecution of immigrants.
What Thomas won't tell you is that crime is up in the unincorporated areas of Maricopa County, where illegal immigrant-hunter Joe Arpaio is his most vicious.
Nor will Thomas explain that his numbers include the more than 30 percent drop in serious crime in Mesa, which was announced by former police chief George Gascón before he left to be police chief in San Francisco. Gascón opposed Arpaio's sweeps and favored community policing that did not target Hispanics or any other specific group.
If the logic follows that going after Hispanics reduces crime, the results for Arpaio's and Gascon's agencies should be the opposite of what they are.
