Phoenix News Blog

Kim Jong-il and Uncle Sam share a distaste for border-crossers...

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 called the "genocide" via starvation by the North Korean government of its own people.

In a brave, and some would say Quixotic act, Park traversed a frozen river into North Korea with letters demanding that the country's communist dictator Kim Jong-il step down from power and close his nation's concentration camps. Park was arrested by North Korean authorities for entering the country illegally and held for 43 days. Park has yet to speak about his ordeal in captivity, so we don't yet know if he was tortured.

The North Koreans quoted Park making statements about "religious freedom" in that country, but these were likely made under duress.

I was struck by the mention in several reports that Park had done missionary and humanitarian work among the poor in Nogales, Sonora, so he is undoubtedly familiar with the plight of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally, and those who are unceremoniously dumped back over the border by Wackenhut buses under contract with the federal government.

Every day, at the Evo A. Deconcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson, some 70 migrants are given mass trials where they plead guilty to counts of illegal entry into the U.S. If it's their first offense, they often get off with time served, however many days that's been. The second time around, federal magistrates usually hit the migrants with sentences of up to 60 days or more as part of plea deals.

from gallegoforarizona.com

Really, Ruben, it's not worth the $410...

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 Sheriff Joe Arpaio's strongest supporters. And he's transformed his post into a nativist bully pulpit, appearing frequently on Mexican-basher J.D. Hayworth's former radio show, for instance, to back a far-right stance against undocumented people in the city and state.

So why would the Arizona Democratic Party and Ruben Gallego, ex-chief of staff for Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski and candidate for the state house in Legislative District 16, which includes largely Hispanic areas such as South Phoenix and Guadalupe, take donations from a group led by such an odious individual?

According to campaign finance reports on the Arizona Secretary of State's Web site, Gallego took $410 in cash from PLEA's PAC, which is chaired by Spencer. Gallego also proudly lists PLEA on the endorsement page of his Web site along with such lefty union groups as SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Gallego also notes in his bio that he's "the son of two Hispanic immigrants."

So why does he take funds from a guy like Spencer who has targeted the Hispanic community in rhetoric and action? A guy who has spread incendiary shibboleths about the Mexican military operating in Phoenix? A guy who never passes up the opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Russell Pearce?

"Spencer represents a lot of police officers," Gallego responded when I called him for comment. "And those police officers -- when it comes to labor issues -- I'm going to support [them] at the state Capitol. I clearly [told PLEA] I would do that, but will not support any of their immigration views."

Catch James Garcia's play for free, one night only...

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 our military for a chance to stay in the country, which is a helluva lot more than most citizens are willing to do.

On humanitarian grounds, I've met too many teens and 20-somethings who've been crushed by our insane immigration policies not to support legislation that would let them remain. And there's no reason to wait for comprehensive immigration reform to get a law like this through Congress. The only folks who stand in our way are the toothless losers who spend their lives hating on Mexicans. Most of them are envious of these kids, that's why they want them to suffer for the supposed sins of their parents.

I'll be on the road most of the day today, so I'll miss seeing James Garcia's play Dream Act for free tonight at the Catalina Elementary School. All I can do is encourage everyone to attend, read my colleague Malia Politzer's recent piece "Return to Sender," which discusses the issue at length, and lobby your senators and representatives to act -- now. Details are below.

And for those haters out there who're down on the brown kids and whine about how all potential DREAM Act beneficiaries should go back to Mexico, I don't suggest you go. Likely your noggins will spontaneously combust after being confronted with the story of future DREAMers smarter than you are. Of course, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing . . .

WHEN: February 3, 2010, 7:15 p.m. (one night only)

WHAT: Dream Act tells the story of Victoria Nava, an undocumented immigrant and university student who dreams of practicing medicine. Homeless and afraid of being deported in the face of an immigration crackdown, Victoria's dream of graduating from college is slipping away. (Note that this performance will be followed by a short discussion with the playwright and experts on the Dream Act, a proposed federal law that would provide a path to citizenship for the more than 65,000 undocumented young people who graduate from high school in the United States each year.)

ADMISSION: Free and open to the public.

WHERE: Catalina Elementary, 4510 North 37th Avenue in Phoenix

I'm not pointing it at you, I'm brandishing.

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, Le recently abandoned ship at the long-sinking Trib for a gig at G.I., and though I regularly read his "What I Know" blog, I guess I missed the most recent one, wherein he informed the public that he was starting with the libertarian think-tank as a member of the staff.

So imagine my surprise when I opened a recent e-mail from G.I. arguing on behalf of gun rights to find that Templar is now G.I.'s communications director. I shot an e-mail back to Le, who tells me that he started January 25 and is so far enjoying the gig.

Bully for him. I've always enjoyed Templar's take on Sand Land's polluted political environment. And I'm hoping that if the Repugnant can ever separate E.J. Montini from his swivel chair and show his simpering mug the door, it'll get a clue and replace him with someone who has something to say, you know, like Templar.

(Or, as I've argued before, even the Rep's own Richard Ruelas, who's been banished to the "ladies," er, I mean, the "living" section. Ruelas' crime? Like Templar, he can write. But I digress...)

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 DHS Assistant Secretary talked of the fact that he was born in Scotland, that his mother is a legal permanent resident, and how he's staking his legacy as the top guy at ICE on detention reform.

The source of my skepticism is twofold: Morton's recent defense of ICE's continued partnership with Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the county jails here; and the revelations of recent documents and video released by the MCSO in the case of Maria del Carmen Garcia-Martinez, a Hispanic housewife whose arm was broken while in MCSO custody last year.

For those who may not recall my reports in March concerning Garcia-Martinez's travails, she was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department on March 6, 2009, after a cop tried to issue her a warning for putting up yard sale signs in her neighborhood.

The 5-foot-something 46-year-old, who's been in the U.S. illegally for decades, had an old expired California ID on her and a matricula card from the Mexican consulate. Due to a small discrepancy between the two IDs, Phoenix PD arrested the mother of three on suspicion of forgery.

Following the injury to her arm, still in MCSO custody, you can see Garcia-Martinez cradling her left arm in a makeshift sling of her own device

A couple of days later, law dogs at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office -- not known for being pikers when it comes to pursuing the undocumented -- declined to prosecute because there was "no reasonable likelihood of conviction." As Garcia-Martinez was in MCSO custody with an immigration hold on her, there was nothing left but for her to be transferred to ICE.

Before I continue to the breaking of Garcia-Martinez's left elbow, let me address a shibboleth that John Morton spewed when he spoke to the Arizona Republic recently and defended the fact that ICE maintains a 287(g) agreement with Arpaio's jails, with 287(g)-trained MCSO detention officers and actual ICE agents nearby to help process the warm bodies.

Friend to the brown man? It remains to be seen...

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 families of many American Latinos: immigration reform.

Indeed, in Obama's State of the Union speech last night, the President effectively snubbed the concept of Comprehensive Immigration Reform by mentioning the subject only in passing, and even then, only in the context of national security.

"We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system," Obama told the U.S. Congress, "to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation."

That was it, one line, in a speech that rambled through such topics as campaign finance, bipartisanship, the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, gay rights, the environment, the financial bailout, and so on.

In essence, Obama's message to the 12 million undocumented squeaking by on the margins, and to those who advocate on their behalf, is: Don't hold your breath, amigos.

How does he get away with this, when more than 30 percent of America's foreign-born population is from Mexico alone, and when Hispanics have backed him in record numbers?

Easy, he and his political advisors can read the polls. As the Pew Hispanic Center noted in a November, 2009 analysis, "Immigration has been a low- to mid-tier issue with the U.S. public for the past three years."

from MagoEarthParkGallery

What's all the hubbub? Looks pretty cool to me...

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.

Arpayaso's numbers are softening, but the game ain't over yet, lads

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 he got in the same category back in July of 2008.

However, 20 percent rate Arpaio as "fair," while seven percent are "not sure." Only 34 percent of respondents rate Arpaio as "poor" or "very poor," up from 28 percent in 2008.

Remember, Arpaio doesn't face re-election till 2012, a race he's already raising money for. In the 2008 election, he scored 55 percent to challenger Dan Saban's 42 percent. If Saban had not been abandoned by the state Democratic Party, he could've narrowed that gap considerably.

Should Arpaio face a substantial challenger in 2012, he can be beaten. He'll turn 80 in 2012, and if you don't have Arpaio fatigue by then, you never will.

ICE's chief hypocrite John Morton

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 Arpaio Perplexed by ICE Secretary's Statement."

It reads, in part,

Published reports today indicate that [ICE head John] Morton is actually defending Arpaio's 287(g) program in the Sheriff's jails where already over 274,000 people have been investigated by Sheriff's officers. Over 31,000 of those investigated have been identified as being in the country illegally making them ineligible for release into the streets of our community. Morton says that local law enforcement "cannot turn a blind eye to people who are here illegally even if they have no criminal record."

Morton's statements are a bit perplexing to Sheriff Arpaio given that it is Morton's agency that was responsible for partially dismantling Arpaio's 287G program when he took away the authority of over 100 deputies to enforce illegal immigration laws by acting as immigration agents on the street of Maricopa County.

Indeed, Morton did defend ICE's continued jails partnership with the MCSO in recent statements to the Arizona Republic. Though ICE axed Arpaio's 287(g) street authority last year, the agency maintained the 287(g) program in the county jails, where some 60-plus federally-trained MCSO thugs are empowered to inquire after arrestees' nationality and intimidate the undocumented into signing voluntary removal forms, allowing ICE to quickly boot them from the U.S.

ICE is desperate to keep 287(g) in Arpaio's vast incarceration complex. In fact, before Arpaio signed on to 287(g) in 2007, that's all ICE wanted. Arpaio held out until ICE granted him 287(g) field authority; i.e., the power to instigate anti-immigrant sweeps. ICE finally gave in, authorizing the largest force of 287(g) officers in the nation. 

In making this deal with El Diablo, ICE gave Arpaio carte blanche to profile based on race and ethnicity, to target Hispanics and deprive them of their constitutional rights. In essence, ICE aided and abetted the MCSO in alleged violations of federal law, violations that are still being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Up until the shift in administrations, ICE insisted that the MCSO was in compliance with the first Memorandum of Agreement the two agencies had signed. Such prevarications were obvious then, but are even more plain in hindsight.

As long as ICE and Arpaio work together in the jails, they share responsibility for the civil and human rights violations that occur therein. Arpaio, of course, could give a javelina's snout for the conditions in his medieval holding facilities, where pregnant women are shackled, mothers have their arms broken or their jaws busted, and where inmates often die from neglect or beat-downs.

If this grosses you out, that means you're normal.

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 sputtered recently by this nutty, nativist preacher-man, the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who apparently likes Arpaio because our Mexican-chasin' "shurf" is down on the brown. Kinda ironic, considering that Peterson is an African-American gent. But then, bigots come in all colors.

"When I think about your situation," Peterson told Arpaio, who was apparently a guest today on Peterson's LA-based radio show. "And I'm not calling you Christ, of course, but it reminded me of what he had to go through fro standing up for what is right. And that's all you're doing is standing up for what is right."

Journalist Eduardo Barraza of the independent, Phoenix news source Barriozona.com captured Peterson playing lickspittle to our corrupt county constable. You can listen to the audio he captured, here.

Now, there are a lot of Biblical characters that you could liken Arpaio to: Pontius Pilate, Ramses II (you know, the guy who goes toe-to-toe with Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments), or my favorite, Nimrod, which in Arpaio's case, would be pronounced "Dim-rod."

courtesy of photosbyjosemunoz.org

Montini argues these and the rest of the 10,000-plus anti-Joe protesters should just zip it

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 with his latest ditty, "Protesting Arpaio is misguided."

"If we get rid of Arpaio and Thomas, the next sheriff and county attorney will have to follow the same policies or get thrown out of office," squeaks Montini, whose credibility has been seriously compromised over the years by kissing up to Joe.

I include in his kiss-ups Montini's lame attempts at criticism of the sheriff's office. Montini is careful to never get too critical. That is a calculated plan of action on his part. And it keeps the pizzas coming. If you ask me, someone needs to send the guy a bucket of chicken.

But Montini's contention that protesting Arpaio's misdeeds is a dead end is just dead wrong. The protest was picked up by national and international press, which does have an impact on decision-makers in DC and elsewhere.

Actually, the persistent agitation against Arpaio's abuses has born and continues to bear fruit. In early 2009, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into alleged civil rights violations by the MCSO, in large part because politicians and activists were demanding such an investigation.

In April of 2009, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing into the 287(g) program and Arpaio's use of that program. Then Mesa police chief George Gascon testified, as did a victim of racial profiling -- Julio Mora -- an American citizen handcuffed during a raid on a Phoenix landscaping company because of the color of his skin.

http://twitpic.com/yu1mk

Dennis Gilman films a sheriff's deputy: His right in a free society

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 clean, professional agency, Gilman wouldn't bother its deputies. But it isn't, so it's deeply p.o.'d, and desperate for payback. Check this latest Twitter by Sheriff Arpaio, posting a pic of Gilman in the act of filming a sheriff's deputy. Gilman's not bothering the guy, he's acting as a citizen journalist, and bird-dogging the coppers as he should.

"These activists with cameras try to intimidate my deputies from doing their jobs," gripes Joe, or, more likely, one of the flunkies in his employ.

Pardon me, shurf, but if I were you, I'd be a little less worried about an activist with a camera, and a little more concerned about the federal indictment you're likely going to receive soon as a Valentine's Day card. Maybe a one-way trip to Honduras with David Hendershott is in order. No doubt Lisa Allen can score you a cheap ticket.

As for the Twitter itself, I'm sure it made Gilman's day. I'll bet he wouldn't trade it for a boatload of E.J. Montini's pizzas.

You can check out Gilman's work at his YouTube site HumanLeague002. USADefender1, eat your bloody heart out, bub.

Neo-Nazi J.T. Ready (left), and his erstwhile father figure, state Senator Russell Pearce, author of a host of bigoted bills

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 of prejudiced legislation, Senate Bill 1070, which practically does everything but make brown people criminals because of the color of their skin.

Like those of Hispanic origin -- or those who look like they're of Hispanic origin -- are not fair game already in Sand Land, Pearce has concocted a grab-bag of bigoted legislative goodies from his trash heap of failed bills past. And if this doesn't earn Pearce a one-way ticket to the hot place (should you believe in such stuff), I don't know what will.

Anarchists assail a Phoenix police officer on horseback...

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.

Detail of the photo above: Note the anarchist with the green-topped hoodie. He ain't petting the animal.

The video was reportedly taken by a supporter of the anarchist faction, who initially believed that it backed the anarchists' version of events leading up to numerous people being pepper-sprayed on January 16. It does not.

The video was shown to me in confidence, and I was not given a copy. However, I was able to obtain a screenshot of the anarchists surrounding the female officer on horseback. At least one of the anarchists can be clearly seen hitting the horse's hindquarters. Shortly after this, the officer deploys her pepper spray.

I wish I could show you the entire video, because then you would also witness the horse in sheer terror as it's surrounded and assaulted by anarchists. The anarchists insist that the horse charged the crowd. The video does not show this. They claim that the horse trampled people underfoot. The video does not reveal this either.

Could the officer have avoided using pepper spray? Perhaps at the risk of breaking her neck and the horse really hurting someone. I can only conceive of one alternative: For the officers standing behind her to have jumped into the fray and pulled the anarchists off her. Why they didn't do this, I don't know, save for the fact that we're talking about a situation that occurred within a manner of seconds. Maybe the cops didn't realize the seriousness of what was transpiring.

Another video of Saturday's showdown between cops and anarchists, watch for the conflict to begin about 4 minutes in

As 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 of events.

One person sent me a link to a Facebook video, which was later yanked down. (At least, it no longer appears to be up.) If you could watch it, you might see why the individual -- who was apparently sympathetic to the anarchists -- would have had reason to pull it.

It showed a cop driving a green Polaris vehicle, which looks like a go-cart, slowly down one side of the road. I'm told by a source in the Phoenix PD that the Polaris was supplying bottled water to the officers and carrying cop bicycles. Some protesters, who seem to be of the anarchist variety, get in front of the Polaris with a long red banner, blocking it. Other demonstrators bunch near the Polaris, walking a little too close for comfort.

A YouTube video by "dorkatron" showing a cop on horseback deploying her pepper spray

I 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 flags and so forth.

Unfortunately, the video is very shaky. Ideally it would be helpful to see what happened a little before the video starts and a little closer in. Did the anarchists assault the officer? She was certainly surrounded by them at one point. 

She is not charging the crowd, nor does she appear to be acting aggressively, but one wonders why she was in their midst at all. At some point, I would like to interview the officer to hear her take on the incident and hear why she felt she had to deploy pepper spray.

I think it's inaccurate to say that the officer intentionally pepper sprayed little children, as some have contended. However, that was a consequence of her deploying her pepper spray, as the pepper spray itself is obviously quite potent. Also, other police officers deployed pepper spray afterwards, though this is not shown by this video.

Some of those jailed have been released, and I'd like to interview them as well. I will try to get up with them as soon as I can. If anyone wishes to contact me, e-mail me at stephen.lemons@newtimes.com.

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, which ended with a concert by Little Joe y La Familia and inspiring oratory from UFW legend Dolores Huerta, Zack de la Rocha and others, was marred by an apparent conflict between the Phoenix Police Department and those they describe as anarchists protesting alongside the other pro-immigration demonstrators.

The march was so large -- organizers say 20,000 and even the cops I've spoken with agree that it was more than 10K strong -- that the seriousness of events on the tail end of the march rounding 35th Avenue and Durango were not apparent to me until after the rally, when the end of the procession was completed. That's when numerous individuals showed me photos and video footage of children and ordinary people suffering from the effects of pepper spray administered by City of Phoenix gendarmes.

Many of the witnesses agree on a few key facts: That a female officer on horseback walked her horse into the crowd at one point; that the horse became agitated; that the female officer sprayed pepper spray into the crowd; and that scores of people, including women and children were overtaken by the fumes.

Add to that the ongoing antagonism of Phoenix anarchists towards the police in general, and the claim of the police that tensions between black clad anarchists and the cops began earlier in the march, at 35th Avenue and Van Buren. Police spokesperson Andy Hill said that there, traffic cones were thrown at a police officer. Sgt. Brian Murray, of the department's Community Response Bureau, said that one of the anarchists hit a Phoenix officer with a can of rocks, but no one was arrested at that point.

According to the info he received from officers on the scene, Hill said the female officer on horseback was assaulted by a woman on foot with a flagpole, and it escalated from there. None of the witnesses I spoke with actually witnessed the officer being assaulted, but they did see her discharge pepper spray into the crowd.

In total, five demonstrators were arrested, two white females and three white males, on charges ranging from aggravated assault to disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

School counselor Laura Ilardo was near the incident, and described what she saw.

"She basically kind of walked the horse into the crowd," said Ilardo of the Phoenix cop, "into the group wearing black. Then all of a sudden the horse started to buck back and forth. People started trying to move away...the next thing I saw, she was pulling out the pepper spray. There was this giant stream...It covered the whole area, and everyone started running."

Ilardo described a little girl, about a year old, who had been hit with the pepper spray. And she was not the only child hurt. Video from California activist/videographer Naui shows a little boy crying because the pepper spray is burning his eyes.

From left, Zack de la Rocha, Little Joe, and Linda Ronstadt outside El Portal Friday

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 $8,000 was raised for Sal Reza's financially-imperiled Macehualli Day Labor Center.

The event's honored guests will be leading the march today: Linda Ronstadt, Little Joe of Little Joe y La Familia, and Zack de la Rocha of One Day as a Lion. They gave a little press conference before going into Wilcox's restaurant for a $100 a head dinner there. You can see them yourselves for free by getting yourself down to 3420 West Roosevelt Street, next to Carl Hayden High School. The march should begin around 10 a.m. and will proceed to Joe's gulag center down at 35th Avenue and Durango. You can catch all the pertinent details, here.

The plan is to encircle the jails, then end with a concert by Little Joe. Folks are hoping Ronstadt and Zack may join in.

As for the presser last night, Little Joe had the sound bite du jour:

"I know [Arpaio] claims he's the toughest sheriff in the United States. Well, Mr. Tough Sheriff, I'd like to see you come to Laredo or Juarez and see how tough you can be there...They'd take care of you quite quick there."

Center for New Community

The ad comparing Arpaio to Bull Connor, which ran in Thursday's Republic

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 commissioner Bull Connor, who battled civil rights protesters with water hoses and attack dogs back in the early '60s.

Not that Arpaio's enlisted German shepherds and water cannons against those he's trying to keep in check -- you know, like Maricopa County's Latino community. Rather, Arpaio employs indiscriminate, anti-Hispanic sweeps -- 13 to date. For those who individually oppose him, there's the threat of arrest on trumped up charges, and other sorts of harassment. This is why the U.S. Justice Department, the FBI and now a federal grand jury are investigating the sheriff.

The ad, paid for by an anti-racist group out of Chicago called Center for New Community, and signed by 60 African American leaders, juxtaposed photos of Connor and Arpaio with the header, "The More Things Change...The More They Stay the Same." The ad's content noted some of Arpaio's more egregious statements and abuses, such as racial profiling, marching 200 Mexicans to a segregated part of Tent City, saying it's "an honor" to be called KKK, and so on. You can examine the ad in detail, here.

Rev. Tillman took exception to the ad, observing that those signing were out-of-towners, and disagreeing with the tenor of the statements therein.

"Whenever you start labeling people...that doesn't get us anywhere," said Tillman. "These people they are talking about - [County Attorney] Andrew Thomas, and in this particular article only about the sheriff, they are elected people. Dr. Martin Luther King pointed out to us a long time ago, the power of the ballot is more than any rhetorical matters that we can do."

He also belittled the comparison, pointing out that many are unfamiliar with who Bull Connor was and what he represented.

"Half the people today don't even know what they're talking about," Tillman stated of the Connor reference."If you go to ASU right now or go out to that demonstration they're having Saturday afternoon...ask half of the people who was Bull Connor. They won't know."

But that doesn't mean the comparison isn't apt, argue others. The Rev. Kazi Joshua, chair of the Center for New Community and the chief signatory of the ad, defended the analogy, while admitting that -- like all such analogies -- it offers a far from a perfect parallel.

"The analogy between Bull Connor and Arpaio would be that Bull Connor was simply seeing himself as enforcing law and order," explained Rev. Joshua. "He was trying to keep Birmingham white all the way, and he saw [the civil rights demonstrators] as trying to disturb the peace.

"The sum total of Joe Arpaio's actions means that people are treated with less dignity than all human beings should be irrespective of their status as it relates to the law. Martin Luther King said that an injustice against one is an injustice against all. That is the point we're making."

from Ernesto Yerena

Ernesto Yerena: The agit-prop Delacroix of the anti-Joe, pro-immigration reform movement

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 much edge for the corporate soft-soap sellers. So they've exiled him, for the most part, to the "Arizona Living" section. You know, journalism's version of the back of the bus.

Once in a blue moon, they ease up on the leash and let him do something cool, like his profile in Thursday's paper of Ernesto Yerena, the artist who created the pro-immigration reform, anti-Joe Arpaio "We Are Human" poster with the help of Shepard Fairey, the graphic genius best known for his Obama "Hope" image and his never-ending Obey Giant campaign.

As I've featured Yerena's work several times in this blog and in my column, I was thrilled to see him get a little shine in our normally staid paper of record.

I was also pleased to see the piece spotlight Yerena's poster image of Orlando Arenas, a member of Sal Reza's Puente Movement, and frequent fixture in the daily protests outside Phoenix's Wells Fargo Building, where Arpaio keeps two floors of pricey executive office space.

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 off by showing some of "Angry Jim" Markins' new signs, one of which repeats the nativist shibboleth of "142,000 Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens since 9/11."

Lynne Stevens offers her video take on the events of January 9

The video also records Angry Jim and Stevens getting into a verbal altercation with a motorist, who had stopped his car to get out and argue with them. He asks Stevens if she knows who Jesus Christ is, and Stevens says she's never heard of the guy.

One of the day laborers I talked to after the fact mentioned such an altercation and said Stevens pulled a gun on the motorist, but this video -- heavily edited as it is, does not show a gun being pulled on the man. As the man leaves, the day-laborers applaud him. Stevens comments that when he left, some of the day laborers started throwing rocks at her, but she offers no video of the rock throwing.

Dennis Gilman's take on the Stevens gun-pulling incident

Eric Cartman or Richard III? You be the judge...

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 it has been revealed in a January 12 order from presiding Judge G. Murray Snow, that Hendershott has been seeking to have his entire deposition sealed before the fact, so as to avoid the embarrassment suffered by his boss, who admitted in his Melendres depo that he had not read his own book Joe's Law in its entirety.

Arpaio's testimony was that of a figurehead, who delegates all of his authority and knows very little of the internal workings of his own office. At least, that's what Arpaio would have us believe. Hendershott, however, is another matter altogether. Hendershott runs the day-to-day operations of the MCSO. It will be very difficult for him to shrug off all responsibility for misdeeds onto underlings.

And yet, the near-universal ridicule Arpaio has received after his testimony was first made public by me, and was later picked up by other news outlets, has apparently chagrined the MCSO. The transcript and the video of Arpaio's depo has gone viral, and Arpaio's been left looking like more of a buffoon than he usually does.

In any case, whether it's from fear of being mortified, or a desire to avoid scrutiny in general, Hendershott's sought to have his deposition kept in the dark. Thankfully for Arpaio-watchers, he seems to have failed for the moment.

Maricopa County Manager David Smith (left) with his attorney Michael Black, outside the federal courthouse in Phoenix

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 Sandra Day O'Connor Federal Courthouse: Maricopa County Manager David Smith, County Financial Manager Sandi Wilson, and Sheriff Joe's chief financial officer Loretta Barkell.

Wilson was the first witness, emerging after about a couple of hours only to describe it as a "difficult morning." Smith was next at bat, but was only questioned for about an hour, as far as I could tell. When he emerged from 401 West Washington a little after noon, he was rushed by a gaggle of local reporters and TV crews, but deferred to his lawyer Michael Black, who said he expected Smith to be called back in a few weeks.

At one point, Black opined that he anticipated the grand jury to go on for "six months." That's not a bad guess. The federal source who tipped me off in December that the U.S. Attorney's office was preparing to move on allegations of abuse of power by the sheriff's office told me recently that the probe would continue on "for months," as Arpaio's top brass and others are called to testify.

Later, Smith issued a short statement to the press explaining his comments to the grand jury:

"Today's grand jury appearance was a welcome opportunity to tell our story on behalf of County employees. Dozens and dozens of County employees, and some County vendors, have been targeted by Sheriff Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas with retaliatory criminal investigations without cause, and disruption of their working lives without justification.

"Sandi Wilson and I expect to return to the grand jury to give even more detailed testimony in three or four weeks about the many abuses of power by Sheriff Arpaio and his office that were generally described to the grand jury today. We look forward to that next opportunity in the interests of justice."

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 world could see. Heck, half the time, my editors even leave the swear words in, as such expressions are characteristic of the toothless hillbillies who're opposed to treating the undocumented with a modicum of respect. 

Being that I'm all about sharing and helping out my fellow man, I thought I'd assist some of these knuckledraggers, and offer up a sampling from their recent phone rants to me over the treatment of Miriam Mendiola Martinez, the latest in a line of pregnant moms shackled while in MCSO custody.

The first example features a fine specimen of Neanderthal, just sprung from a block of Norwegian ice. He drops the f-bomb casually, calls Miriam's kid a "bastard" (he's not, the child has a dad who's the head of the familial unit), and harps on people being here "illegally," as if that's a brand new word for him. I've got some bad news for the goober, currently Miriam is here legally, and will likely remain here legally. Her newborn is an American citizen, and can stay in this country as long as he wants. Stick that in your trucker hat, Billy Bob.

Will Hendershott have to answer to the grand jury, if he hasn't had to already?

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 the U.S. Attorney's Phoenix office in separate meetings yesterday. They stated that they did not speak with the new U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke directly, and that the attorneys present were close-lipped about the grand jury itself, which they were told would include about 20 jurors.

They were not told how long the grand jury had been impaneled, or if anyone else had been subpoenaed. However, they were told that they were free to talk about the fact they'd been subpoenaed, which they took as a "hint."

It was a hint they quickly acted on, reaching out to the local press, including Channel 5. They said they meant to telegraph the news that they were now federal witnesses to the MCSO, but said they were given no specific "advice" by the U.S. Attorney's office on what to do should Arpaio's goons attempt to raid their homes or even arrest them.

Both said they felt that they were not out of harm's way, and Wilson suggested Arpaio might be more likely to do something now. Smith conceded this was a possibility, noting that the MCSO "does not play by the rules."

If Emil's right on immigration, it may all come down to oil...

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 the Seattle area and continues to author essays concerning Phoenix and Arizona, as well as the economy in general, and other issues.

Obviously, Talton also has an eye for talent. Pulsifer's January 4 "guest rogue" column "On The Border" sounds a rational alarm on the immigration issue that both anti-immigrationists and open borders folks should be able to recognize as one requiring a long-term response. Indeed, Pulsifer's take on the current immigration crisis is that it will pale in comparison to what may come should Mexico's oil industry collapse.

Pulsifer notes, "Mexico's proven oil reserves are dwindling fast and may be exhausted at the current rate of production within less than ten years: the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that Mexico will become a net oil importer by 2017."

Why this is important becomes the jumping off point for Pulsifer's article:

As of late 2009, Mexico was the second largest source of America's imported oil. More importantly from the standpoint of immigration policy is the reality that oil exports constitute Mexico's largest source of legal revenues (about 40 percent); second to this, and larger than tourism, are the remittances sent home by immigrants working in foreign countries (chiefly the United States).  Remittances are, in fact, so large a component of Mexico's economy, that they constitute a peculiar form of foreign investment. So, barring rosy developments in Mexico's oil industry, and unless the United States takes an even greater nosedive than Mexico is going to in coming years, expect massive immigration, on a scale to make the recent wave look puny, within a decade.

Assuming a new, larger wave of immigration is impending, Pulsifer then investigates the range of options, from a wall along the Arizona-Mexico border, to local law enforcement efforts such as those by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. But Pulsifer reveals that most of these "solutions" are not solutions at all. As he observes, "The point remains that water will find its own level, and the greater the pressure at the pump end, the faster new holes will be found."

Reckon they have pink undies in the federal pen?

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 grand jury.

"Maricopa County Manager David Smith and County Budget Director Sandi Wilson both said they had been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury next week to testify about their interactions with the Sheriff's Office," reads a short report on the station's Web site.

The online piece also noted that, "The Sheriff's Office launched criminal investigations into Smith and Wilson as negotiations over its budget heated up in February 2008."

Loew said in his televised report that Channel 5 has a copy of one of the subpoenas, and he promised there would be a follow-up on its 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. broadcasts.

Notorious "pro-texter" Lydia Guzman with Rage Against the Machine frontman Zach de la Rocha

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 old B-movie. At one point, Bodney asked Arpaio about a press release linking swine flu to illegal aliens.

Bodney: Do you remember issuing a press release containing those words or words to that effect?

Arpaio: Well, my public information officer prepares the press releases.

Bodney: And who is that?

Arpaio: Well, I have many of them. Not "many," but I have three or four...to prepare releases.

Bodney: Do you know who prepared this press release?

Arpaio: No, I do not.

Interestingly, New Yorker writer William Finnegan described a meeting at which a press release concerning swine flu was concocted in his July 2009 profile of Sheriff Joe for that magazine. Present at the conference were Arpaio, his top flack Lisa Allen, Arpaio's long-time sycophant and co-author Len Sherman, and various members of the MCSO media relations unit. The team debated openly about what they should put in the press release concerning the steps MCSO would take in the jails to prevent the spread of the disease.

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 producing documentaries on various subjects

Big Noise's excellent report on right-wing extremism in America

They seemed like very cool folks, but when they told me they were working on a doc about white supremacy in the U.S. and its ties to the Tea Party movement and the anti-immigrant movement in the southwest, I can't say I knew what to expect. At the time, I was very impressed with their ability to gain access to the neo-Nazi Oi Fest that went down in Tonopah this past October.

After watching their just released doc White Power U.S.A., which debuted recently on the satellite news network Al Jazeera English, I'd have to doff my chapeau in their general direction, if I wore a chapeau. Making it look easy, they have seamlessly tied together in one neat 24 minute package the challenge facing a Barack Obama-led nation over the issues of race and immigration. All this, with sometimes breathtaking photography of the Arizona desert.

from Jon Sullivan

Montini scores a pizza from Joe. What's next, flowers and a date?

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 the use of computers, the Internet, e-mail, and text messaging. His typewriter and his big mouth are his only means of direct communication, he implied. That and, presumably, the occasional grunt.

So how does Arpaio come to Twitter that he sent Arizona Republic reporter E.J. Montini a pizza with anchovies on it? 

MCSO flack Brian Lee offered an explanation via e-mail:

"The sheriff does not use a computer or e-mail. Usually, he will tell one of us directly or write down on paper to us exactly what he wants posted on his Twitter account."

Whew. Now I'll be able to sleep at night.

I called and e-mailed E.J. Montini to ask him if he'd received his Italian surprise package. (No horse head in the bed this time around.) Arpaio's reason for honoring the columnist was a somewhat critical article Montini recently wrote about the sheriff.

Montini e-mailed me back to let me know that he'd just blogged about his pizza, and his tradition of receiving them from Arpaio after he authors a mildly critical column on the sheriff, as he did recently.

"Tradition is a wonderful thing," Montini blogs. "The sheriff began sending me anchovy pizzas for critical columns years ago after he found out that I don't like anchovies. I threatened a Freedom of Information request to find out who's paying for the pies, but come on, it's all in fun."