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The Battle of Bell Road: Hundreds protest Sheriff Joe Arpaio's anti-immigrant dragnets.

Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 03:31:19 PM

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A small section of the crowd Thursday night.

Events have been moving so rapidly since last night that I haven't had time to report on the eruption of Latino/Hispanic outrage at Bell and Cave Creek Roads where Sheriff Joe has stationed his mobile command center for the weekend. From a shopping center parking lot on the north-west corner of the crossroads, MCSO cars were dispatched as part of the Sheriff's dragnet targeting Hispanics in the hunt for illegal immigrants. There was only one problem for Joe last night. There were so many protesters surrounding the deputies that for a while, the MCSO was unable to get its cars out of the lot.

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A United for a Sovereign America protester signals his distaste for the press.

I made the Joe Show press conference yesterday. It lasted from about 4 to 5 p.m. Basically Joe defended himself against charges of racism, saying that the MCSO was just enforcing the law. Look to next week's Bird for more on the media event. In any case, there wasn't much happening up there at 5 p.m. Just about 50 or 60 protesters milling out on the sidewalk in front of the taped off area for the MCSO command post. So I left. By the time I got back to the office, I was getting calls that Sheriff Joe's dog and pony show had turned into Fort Apache. I raced back up the 51 to Bell and Cave Creek where barricades had been erected, and a crowd of about 700 was facing off against Sheriff's deputies. People were passing around bullhorns, each giving their testimony of oppression. It was an emotional scene, sometimes broken up by the humor of musicians, or some wag yelling,"I love you Sheriff Joe. I want you to come and arrest my kids. You are my hero!".

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Activist Michelle Brians berates MCSO deputies.

About 20 or so members of United for a Sovereign America showed up to wave racist signs and taunt the crowd. They practically had to be protected by the MCSO. After someone threw a Coke can at them, the Hispanic leaders present had some men form a line separating the U.S.A. crowd from the protesters. Most of the protesters I saw were young. Many mothers with their children. High-school and college-age kids. Some older women, and men. In general, the crowd was peaceful, but you could see how some bad shit could go down, if one person up and did the wrong thing.

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KKK approved, indeed...

The MCSO deputies looked tense. They were constantly haragued by the protesters, who waited for the main MCSO command center wagon to depart, before they left. There were a lot of curious folks present, as well as residents from the community pissed-off at the Sheriff's invasion of their neighborhood. Most of the main players from the immigrant-rights movement were on hand: Alfredo Gutierrez, Danny Ortega, Salvador Reza, and others.

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Too bad she's too young to vote...

This massive response to Arpaio's thuggery is thrilling, and feels full of promise. People are filled with righteous anger against Arpaio's tyranny. I'll be going back up there tonight. I hope the scene doesn't turn ugly, but I want to be present to witness it if it does.

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Racist lie...

Re: these photos from last night, I don't have the time to build a slide show right now. Hopefully I can get one going over the weekend. There were tons of news crews out last night. Interesting that there was zero coverage in Phoenix's major daily today. What the fuck do those guys do for a living?

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Old Yeller screams, "America, love it or leave it!"

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Salvador Reza, of the Macehualli Work Center, which is just a block or so away...

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Some dude singing an extemporaneous ditty by guitarist James Quercia, titled, "Uh-oh, Joe is here!"

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Joe supporter Brandy Barron, one of the more civil U.S.A. members...

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Around 11 p.m., the MCSO's command center truck calls it a night, to the delight of the crowd...

26 Comments:

Coz says:

Leave to this idiot Arpaio to start a race war in Maricopa County...

What a bone head Arputo is.

Sun Land Warrior says:

Today was the day, and there was no doubt about it was the scene intense, today March 28, 2008 "Apache Fort" that is being played out straight from the past, like an old movie, I feel not proud of, considering the barricades and the numerous presence of security and some undercover agents, perhaps the FBI as well?
I was there for a limited time to check it out once again, only this time I couldn't stay long since my comrade had to work(sigh). This scene reminds me of our Southwestern history. I was able to blend in with the Mexicans, although I spoke little or no Spanish, hence I feel more sympathetic towards my Mexican neighbors than I do with the White Man in the natavists camp. The term "Sheriff" has a new meaning to me now since the past year, regardless of what other think. And when I think of a "Sheriff", I think of evil men like Arpaio, a real life Yosmite Sam but only sinister to the point where they go after anyone who isn't White. And that is a desecration to the meaning of law enforcement in modern times and an insult to the constitutional rights of non-Whites.
Where in the dark decrepit mind of Arpaio who sees Brown, also sees a criminal......

--Kochise the Sun Land Warrior

bill says:

It's kind of funny watching white trash without jobs protesting brown folk looking for jobs.

What businesses petitioned jack-boot joe and his on-going criminal enterprise (MCSO)? I'd like to be sure that I don't support them and would like to express my concerns to their corperate owners, if applicable?

Ridding Maricopa County of criminals is Joe Arpaio's job, que no? Illegal aliens are criminals, one and all. They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, and immediately dispatched back to whence they came. It's the law, and it's amazing that so many so-called "Hispanics" favor lawlessness. We need fewer immigrants of that rotten ilk. I hope Joe gets every last one of those disgusting little parasites and tosses them back over the fence.

Every county in America needs a top cop like Joe Arpaio.

Abi says:

While the sheriff was arresting 13 brown people for broken taillights, Phoenix PD and DPS were announcing the takedown of 446 gangbangers with outstanding warrants. So tell me again how "tough" Joe really is.

~Brandy~ says:

Thanks Abi, it's good to know that while our sheriff and his men were taking care of the illegal aliens in our neighborhoods (like our police force SHOULD have been doing) the PPD and DPS were actually doing something to help SOMEBODY'S neighborhoods.

Angie says:

I have many pics of that night and of many people of color on the side of Joe also. None of us are any more "white trash" than the hispanics are "wetback trash". Our government has failed to enforce federal laws that Americans do want enforced. So does that mean we can never do anything about it?
I saw a lot of violence coming from the people that say they are not criminals. Their rally masters said "why not go and arrest real criminals". Do they not realize many illegal aliens commit awful crimes too? Also the huge "gang sweep" do you not think many of them are hispanic too? Didn't here any bitching about that! There was gang members at Bell threatening to shoot some of us....got some good pics of them for future reference too!
They scream "hate speech,racial profiling,and go home gringos". Sorry but I am not all gringo and neither are some of our other supporters! We are home and many are retired vets,homemakers,highschool kids,mothers,and some who happen to like motorcycles that does not make them nazis! I just don't see the "white trash welfare nazis" they are refering to. Only Americans that give a crap!
If someone can come here illegally and stand on a corner everday looking for "under the table work" why can't we in our free American time stand out there and protest that without being hated too? Racism goes both ways....Americans against illegal immigration are not the only ones who can be racists.
It is not about sending all hispanics back to Mexico....it is about sending illegal aliens back to their country they have abandoned! If we are so bad then why come here? Sounds to me a revolt in Mexico is very needed. Some could die but hey many have died for this country too!
I just can't understand for the life of me why they can not see any of our views on the respect of our country being denied by people who come illegally.
One day when the gangs,rapists,murderers have taken over it will be too late to choose a side. We have many of our own criminals we DO NOT need more that are flying under the radar of punishment.
Not all illegal aliens commit more crimes than just coming illegally or identity theft....but many do and they need to be stopped at some point before it is too late to stop it!
Someday soon if not already we will be exactly like Mexico where the rich government only cares about their pockets and not their people.
Keep the "real America" alive!

Just as an FYI: In order for the "racist lie" of "71,000 Americans by illegal aliens since 9/11" to be correct, they would have to be responsible for well over half the homicides in the US for that period of time... And then some.

My (very) rough calculations estimate that there have been in the neighborhood of 119,000 homicides in the US in the six and a half years since then.

Stats: http://www.disastercenter.com/cdc/

9/11 is an interesting cut-off date, too... Since all the aliens involved in those attacks were -legal-

FrankG says:

To Angie,

If there were a bunch of gangbangers threatening people, then why didn't the "posse" do anything about it?

They were too busy protecting their little compound they built.

Typical "joe show" all show and no go

Citizen says:

MacDonald:

Being "killed" by illegals doesn't have to mean only by homicide.

Chuck Adzema says:

Seriously, what makes the Mexican illegal alien so special?

NOW!! They smell Amnesty in 2009!


What do we owe Mexico, as our neighbor to the South, or the Mexican Nationals living in the United States of America Illegally? If we truly wanted to help the Worlds less fortunate, why do we not hold out the hand of Mercy to the Sudanese, Haitians, Moldavian, Central American’s, and those starving children of Chad these the huddled masses of these Nations are truly in need? All we hear about is the poor Mexican this, the poor Mexican that! Arizonians, have invested Millions upon Millions of dollars on its ELL program, there are at least 140,000 of these children in Arizona alone, GOD, knows how many are in California, and for what? Every other ethnic immigrant group managed to adapt to our American educational system. These children went on to become the intellect behind the Manhattan Project, NASA, and were instrumental in winning the Cold War! LOOK IT UP!!!

Mexico is a Democratic Republic and one of the richest countries in the world; half of all Latin America’s Billionaires are from Mexico including top dog “Carlos Slim”! Mexico is a Republic in name only. It is an Oligarchy or Plutocracy, “Ask a Mexican” do we ever read articles in The New Times, Arizona Republic or any Major American Daily reporting how corrupt Mexico is? How about a piece on the indigenous native Mexicans demand for land REFORM in the South and the genocide associated with it? Or the Rape, Murder, Assault and Robbery of the Central Americans on Mexico’s southern border.

Mexico, the legendary Mexican and in particular the “Soncho” are a JOKE in the Spanish-speaking world. A quote from the Soncho play book “I love you so many, I hardly can told you!” seriously, name two significant accomplishments Mexico has contributed to the world other then street drugs, gangs, mother’s illegally in the US with five children, raising our property tax’s for ELL instruction because Mexican children can not learn English in FIVE years, KILLING more Americans then the WAR, the list goes on and on! LOOK IT UP!

Soncho, said “You stole our LAND, gringo” reply “We should have taken it all, YOU did Jack Shit with the rest and BLAME the USA for your failures ”

Every person employed in Law Enforcement in Arizona from the Governor to the Cop on the beat should be ashamed to CASH his or her paycheck, due to dereliction of duty! All they seem capable of doing is to nibble at the loose ends, raid the high profile Drop House. They fear the wrath of Political Correct, and there hand off policy of the Mexican National; less we offend the Latino Community! One man puts duty before PC Joe A, our Sheriff and he is called a “Racist” for protecting us!

FrankG says:

"I saw a lot of violence coming from the people that say they are not criminals. Their rally masters said "why not go and arrest real criminals". Do they not realize many illegal aliens commit awful crimes too? Also the huge "gang sweep" do you not think many of them are hispanic too? Didn't here any bitching about that! There was gang members at Bell threatening to shoot some of us....got some good pics of them for future reference too!"

Let's break this down;

If there was violence at the rally, why weren't those committing the crime arrested? There were plenty of "officers" there.

The people are mad because of the tactics used by the joker, plain and simple. If they explained the methodology behind the operation and stop giving false reasons for being there, there would be less resistence. The appearance is this is politically motivated against Mayor Gordon.

Illegal aliens do commit horrific crimes. Go after them. MCSO has at least 10 unsolved homicides which are related to human smuggling. Put the posse to good use and help solve those crimes.

The gang roundup. Nobody in the Hispanic community feel sorry for a violent gang banger with warrants. Once again, arresting these gangsters makes the city safer. The joker can do this if he wanted to, but that would require real work.

Why don't you do something productive with those pictures and give them to Phoenix PD or DPS's gang squads. They will do something about it, not run away.

Let's talk about the "square". That area has been a pit for years. It used to be worse years ago when there were open gun battles in the park. Things have been better lately, but working together with the city of Phoenix and realy make a difference is the way to go, not coming in there like a show and running away when there are a few protestors.


Gene says:

The issue of illegal immigration isn't a race issue, or shouldn't be. There are laws in this country and countries around the globe that govern immigration, and most countries are far more stringent than the USA. If we are going to be a country with a rule of law, then the laws should be enforced. That being said, there is interpretation of laws which courts and law enforcement must do. I don't necessarily agree with all of the sheriff's methods. I also don't agree with the reasoning that since illegal immigrants are here, no mattter their origin, they should be given a free pass around the law.

Hank Hill says:

Angie & Buster: Somewhere our society has failed you two. Your assertion that illegal immigration should be a priority is a manifestation by bigots who are obsessed by the topic. Claims of racism are obvious - don't you know this is how the holocaust started?

Of course you don't. You are an ignoramus. There are chimps with a greater IQ than yours and now society will have to bear the burden of having to listen to your idiotic comments.

The idea that you can write a sentence like, "They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, and immediately dispatched back to whence they came." is a demonstration of your ignorance of history on TWO continents.

It's a shame your welfare benefits give you so much time to blame other people for your inadequacies. Again, our society has failed you.

I recommend you swallow a bottle of sleeping pills followed by a vodka chaser to end the suffering of our having to read your jagoff statements and have you infecting our community with your ignorance.

Hank

~Brandy~ says:

Actually three of the aliens involved in the 9/11 had expired visas so they were no longer here legally.

The fact that they were all able to get into our country at all only proves to me that we need to close and secure our borders (and ports) and pay much closer attention to who and how many are allowed into our country.

angie says:

Sorry FrankG & Hank Hill that I do not waste my time debating with people with such narrow minds. Call us bigots,cowards,and whatever else makes you feel justified in letting a group of people not here legally get special treatment. Someday the reality of it all will come out...civil war? I do not not need to let you know my plans for my photos or tell you exactly what was done by the sheriffs men to control the gandbangers intimidation tactics. Just lets be clear that the protesters on their side did have some arrests both nights for being over aggressive towards us and Joe's men. We did not. Just so everyone knows the white man who showed up with the shotgun was on the side of the hispanics. He was over on their side for a bit with a Spanish shirt on and then went and got his dog and gun to scare people. I saw no one on the side of concerned Americans carrying any guns or other weapons.
Insinutating that their aggression toward us and Joe is justified is stupid! There is no need to act like rebels against any law enforcement officials whether you feel it is right or not. That only further proves the hate on their side that is soon to be explosive. I didn't see any officers beating them down or treating them like shit. I did see many hispanics acting like jerks to them. So does that make them look any better of people? Didn't look like resistance looked like lack of respect for law officials plain and simple.
As for the gangmembers you think the hispanics don't care about well some are illegal aliens and yes they do care or why would it be so hard to find them? If one gets shot while resisting don't you think the hispanics will freak out over it? Just like the border agents defending themselves from illegals, people will punish them not the ones who tried to harm the agents!
I am Jewish/Mexican/Irish so fuck you! Don't tell me about the holocaust or slavery or that there is no legal immigration for many family trees of people here! As for welfare it must be you because you sound like the white trash they are refering to.
I think your mental age really shows with your sad comments of people needing to kill themselves for having an opinion that many Americans think is right.
I'll be glad to shoot you when the day of reckoning comes!

2correx4angie says:

Couple of corrections, Angie: The white guy with the shotgun was not wearing a shirt with Spanish on it. If you check out the pics from the 2nd night at www.barriozona.com, you can see that his shirt sports a famous Latin palindrome, "SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS." This is known as the "Sator Square," and if you care to, you can read more about it on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sator_Arepo_Tenet_Opera_Rotas

On the second night, many of the people on your side of the barricades were armed with handguns. The video doesn't lie. Check out the ABC 15 report here:
http://www.abc15.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=12121@knxv.dayport.com

A minuteman from your side even admits this is the case on camera.

FrankG says:

Angie,

In reality, I don't care what you think. It is obvious you are an ignorant gash who has no idea what the fuck you are talking about. Keep on drinking the joker's kool aid if it makes you feel safer.

I never said I support illegals or gangbangers. I don't, but people like you don't listen and ASSume people who don't like the joke are liberals,criminals, in tent city....blah blah blah.

As far as the comment you made about shooting me, I seriously doubt that you would even be able to squeeze one round out near me before you got smoked. Me and my crew roll with enough weapons to protect ourselves and the citizens we serve.

Wait....I know what you are going to do with those pictures...you are going to run them through Hinderblimp's facial recognition equipment!!!!!

Wait....the stuff is in Honduras....too bad, so sad.

Dittoheads

justin says:

Leave it to the "joke" to arrest those day laborers, people who want to work and here to better themselves. Instead of setting up radom road blocks south of town to stop the gangs and drugs from coming in.
Then they want to fine the owners, who are in business working.
He's after everyone that is working, and turn them into criminals. WHo's going to pay for all this halla ba lu? He is abusing his power, knows he is not going to get reelected , hsi last chance to act like an ass and have it make head lines.
he is starting riots in Phoenix, most professional law men defuse situations. "Im just doing my job? hahaha And I thought the Feds were in charge of the border>. Wait til one of these officers gets shot, then who will he blame? Swift andy t???

brian says:

what idiots these illegals are! just get the F out now! we DON't want you here or we would have asked you to come. respect us or we will make you.

angie says:

Reguardless of your "I am the only one right" thoughts he was on their side. And not carrying a handgun in a holster but a shotgun with his shells well exposed to intimidate us.
I hate to break it to you but I am a great shot and have been since a very young child. I wouldn't miss your nose from a good distance!
As for your "crew" sounds like maybe you are some lame ass gangbangers too. You have ASSumed much about me yourself but let me guess you are almighty and all knowing right?
I am so sorry I do not speak Latin or Spanish because this is America and English is the state language...not to mention the rest of the country except for people who do not want to be an American.
I really don't think what his shirt said really mattered just that he wasn't with us.
So I guess if someone was carrying on our side it was wrong to. I guess if a riot had broken out it would of been great for no one to defend themselves from gangbangers who I'm sure weren't far from a gun themselves?
As for the video it only links to wussy Gordon and that doesn't prove crap. Sorry I am not searching through anymore videos to try to find one or two hand guns barely visible. I have already searched through others and still have not seen any. I am sure that if one our side said it then he just wanted to let them know that we could defend ourselves with not just the sheriffs men. Which the first night the sheriffs men had to circle us for protection from opposition aggression attempts and then taunted us for needing to be protected when there was only 20 or so of us. The next night we were better prepared to stand against so much opposition.
I'm sure once again you guys will pick through my comments and tell me I am wrong because well neither of us are going to change each others minds.
Agree to disagree....that is how you civilly end a debate.

rainbowbomb says:

If you look into their eyes, notice the un-sobriety/unconciousness needed to come out of the darkness and scream at all brown people...

Greg says:

Sheriff Joe is no different than his settler ancestors who formed slave patrols back in the 1600's to catch runaways. Just like back then he rallies white people of all economic classes to his cause.

Meanwhile, others of his ilk appeal to the state legilature, seeking to pass legislation that will force even anti-racist whites to join in (or face arrest and fines); as was done in South Carolina from 1690 to 1865.

Fascism in Amerikkka has always been wrapped in the red, white, and blue; and it has always targeted people of color.

One solution: REVOLUTION.

Sandune says:

This site is more fun than my blog on the local rag! So many more people to uh...mm..have a valuable and meaningful discourse with.

miss m says:

first of all you all people who talk shit about immigrants need to get a life and get laid maybe that way you'll live happier. that way you don't judge people because of the color of their skin or physical characteristic.

they kill americans, my ass

C.T. Grimm says:

"THERE IS NO CRUELER TYRANNY THAN THAT WHICH IS PERPETRATED UNDER THE SHIELD OF LAW AND IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE" Charles de Montesquieu, 1742

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