Oral arguments took place February 4 regarding a sanctions motion from the plaintiffs in the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial profiling lawsuit now underway. I had to be out of town on an assignment, and so could not attend the verbal donnybrook, but I did obtain a transcript of the proceedings,…
The welcome news that Tucson missionary Robert Park has returned home after being imprisoned for six weeks by the North Korean government has been splattered across the Internet, and rightly so. The 28 year-old crossed over into North Korea from China on Christmas Day to draw attention to what he…
There’s absolutely no doubt that Mark Spencer, head of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, has turned the police union into an anti-immigration juggernaut. Spencer has been a tireless backer of state Senator (and neo-Nazi hugger) Russell Pearce’s efforts to turn all law enforcement officers in Arizona into immigration agents. He’s one of…
The DREAM Act should be a no-brainer for even those anti-immigration types out there. Why shouldn’t we try to keep smart, law-abiding kids here in the U.S. after we’ve educated them? Talk about model citizens and patriots! Many of these young men and women are even willing to serve in…
I’ve always dreamed of riding a nuclear payload right into enemy territory a la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove (whatever “enemy territory” is these days), and I’m a step closer because of the efforts of former East Valley Tribune columnist Le Templar and his new bosses at the Goldwater Institute here in Phoenix. See,…
A pack of MCSO detention officers — some of them 287(g)-trained — walk Garcia-Martinez into a room to get her fingerprint on an ICE document.I recently watched with great skepticism and annoyance ICE honcho John Morton’s videotaped remarks to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. There, on January 25, the…
Barack Obama achieved the presidency in part because of the votes of U.S. Hispanics. According the Pew Hispanic Center, 67 percent of Latinos voted for Obama over John McCain in 2008. And yet, the Obama administration has given little more than lip-service to an issue that directly affects the extended…
To cop and alter a line from Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I, the rednecks are revolting! Yeah, man, they stink on ice.Like you needed more proof that Arizona’s chock full of backwards, toothless puddin’heads who freak at the mere suggestion of any culture other than their own, along…
A new BRC Rocky Mountain Poll shows Sheriff Joe’s approval rating slipping in Maricopa County, though I find the poll’s claim that Arpaio’s popularity has collapsed to be premature. Countywide, only 39 percent of respondents rate Arpaio’s performance as “good” or “very good.” That’s way down from the 54 percent…
Sheriff Arpaio’s flacks are usually full of it, churning out press release after press release with the sole purpose of puffing up Joe’s jowly profile for the public. But once in a blue billy goat, they actually make a point, as was done with the January 21, 2010 press release, “Sheriff…
Usually, folks like to compare Sheriff Joe to rather nefarious historical figures, you know, like Bull Connor, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet, Benito Mussolini (well, they’re both Italian), and so on. But the Man from Galilee? The Prince of Peace? The Light of This World? Jesus Christ himself? That’s the insanity…
According to the Rep’s E.J. Montini, if you oppose Sheriff Joe Arpaio and you lose at the polls, you should just keep your gob shut.Wow, talk about a mouthpiece for the little old ladies in Sun City, and Arizona’s reactionary, nativist contingent. Montini’s certainly earned his many pizzas from Arpaio…
The nativists love to hate Dennis Gilman, the activist/videographer who’s always documenting their dirty deeds. And there’s no love lost between the MCSO and Gilman either. Joe Arpaio’s deputy dips have threatened to arrest him several times, all for exercising his constitutional right to monitor law enforcement. If the MCSO were a…
Remember that 10,000 person anti-Arpaio march that happened recently? You know, like four days ago?That was really great and all, but where we need those 10,000-plus persons right now is down at the Arizona State Legislature Wednesday morning to oppose neo-Nazi hugger and state Senator Russell Pearce’s latest putrid piece…
I watched an interesting video yesterday, one that generally belies the claims of Phoenix anarchists that they were attacked by Phoenix cops and that the cops were being overly aggressive with them. The video was reportedly taken by a supporter of the anarchist faction, who initially believed that it backed…
Another video of Saturday’s showdown between cops and anarchists, watch for the conflict to begin about 4 minutes inAs the debate roils online about the pepper-spraying incident at Saturday’s anti-Arpaio march, more video is being posted to the Internet, and so far, the video does not back the anarchists’ account…
A YouTube video by “dorkatron” showing a cop on horseback deploying her pepper sprayI was just sent a link to this YouTube video above showing the female officer on horseback from Saturday’s march, pepper-spraying the anarchists who’ve surrounded her. At least, they appear to be mostly anarchists, with clichéd black…
California videographer Naui’s footage from the pepper spray incident…the title and content is Naui’s alone…I am so disgusted by today’s events at the big anti-Arpaio march to Joe’s jails that I hardly know where to begin. The saddest part of it is that a mostly-peaceful demonstration of over 10,000 persons,…
I’m on my way down to Phoenix’s Falcon Park, where one of the largest anti-Arpaio marches in history is now gathering, but I would be remiss if I didn’t post a short note about the fundraiser at Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox’s El Portal restaurant last night, where around…
Sheriff Joe received a little support today from an unlikely source, the Rev. Oscar Tillman, President of the Maricopa County branch of the NAACP.I contacted Rev. Tillman to ask his opinion of a half-page ad that ran in the Arizona Republic yesterday comparing Arpaio to Birmingham, Alabama’s infamous public safety…
If the editors over at Phoenix’s daily fishwrap had half a brain, they’d relegate their star columnist E.J. “Milksop” Montini to checking typos in the classifieds, and make Richard Ruelas his replacement.Ruelas used to have his own column in the Rep back in the day, but apparently he had a tad too…
Here are two disturbing videos regarding the Walmart gun-pulling incident I wrote about for the current Bird column. One is from the gun-puller herself, nativist Lynne Stevens, the other from activist/videographer Dennis Gilman.Stevens’ YouTube video is revealing, but not in a good way for her or her cohorts. She starts…
