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…
As I recently noted in an update to one of my blogs, Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Chief Deputy David Hendershott is scheduled to be deposed in the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial profiling lawsuit this Tuesday, January 19. Previously, it had been scheduled for January 8, but was moved back recently.Now…
There was a chill, and dare I say it, a thrill in the air for some, on this winter Wednesday morning, the first day of a federal grand jury looking into criminal abuses of power by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.The grand jury spent almost all day questioning three witnesses at the…
I imagine my nativist callers look something like these guys..I’m not sure why the nativists bother to call me up and leave anonymous, racist messages on my phone mail. I mean, if they knew how to type — even hunt and peck — they could e-mail in a letter the whole…
We spoke last week to a north Phoenix high-school class about our “experiences in journalism.” It was early in the day, and the majority of the students were, shall we say, less than engaged in the, um, dialogue. But the class of about 25 boys and girls gathered a pulse after someone asked about Joe Arpaio. The question was: how…
I spoke briefly today with both County Manager David Smith and County Budget Director Sandi Wilson, who yesterday confirmed to Channel 5’s Morgan Loew that they had both been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury this Wednesday, January 13. Both said they spoke to deputy U.S. Attorneys at…
Regular readers of the Feathered Bastard blog are familiar with the trenchant, and often amusing observations of regular commenter Emil Pulsifer. So you will be interested in Pulsifer’s recent, thought-provoking guest column for Jon Talton’s Rogue Columnist blog. Formerly a business columnist for the Arizona Republic, Talton currently dwells in…
According to KPHO’s 5 p.m. newscast, the station has confirmed that a federal grand jury is looking into Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s abuses of power, and his retaliatory investigations of his political enemies. Reporter Morgan Loew just broke the story that two county officials have received subpoenas ordering them to testify before the…
Why should we buy anything that comes out of Arpaio’s PR department considering the sheriff’s statements under oath during his deposition in the Melendres racial profiling case? There, confronted with his own press releases by lawyer David Bodney, Arpaio squirmed like a cheap gunsel under a hot lamp in some…
I met Big Noise filmmakers Richard Rowley and Jacquie Soohen while they were in town to cover the National Socialist Movement march on the Arizona state Capitol in November. Though the duo live in New York, they fly all over the world, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Mexico and Ecuador…
Can Arpaio Twitter via his ancient Smith Corona typewriter? That’s what’s been keeping me up late as I ponder the true author or authors of Joe’s very active Twitter account. In his recent deposition in the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial-profiling lawsuit, Arpaio told plaintiffs’ lawyer David Bodney that he eschews…
