Published: 07.15.2008
Denogean: Protesters as offensive as Sheriff Arpaio
ANNE T. DENOGEAN
Tucson Citizen
Let's be clear. I think Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a bully with a badge.
But I don't think you persuade the public that the man is an out-of-control, raving lunatic by behaving like out-of-control, raving lunatics.
That's the kindest description I have for the immigration rights protesters who beat to a pulp a piñata meant to represent the sheriff during Arpaio's visit to Tucson last week.
This was the scene for those who missed Thursday evening's piece of street theater on East Broadway.
The sheriff came to town to plug his new book (an homage to himself) with a book-signing and a live radio interview with KNST-AM (790) at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. And where the state's finest ringmaster goes, a circus inevitably will pop up.
The Coalición de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Coalition) organized a protest. The normal stuff. Some chanting and marching. Folks carrying signs calling the sheriff a fascist. A few protesters even infiltrated the sizable crowd of Arpaio supporters and disrupted the live radio broadcast by shouting out insults.
What occurred about midway through the protest, however, was truly disturbing. Several young protesters outside the store brought out a piñata meant to represent Arpaio.
The piñata, with a picture of Arpaio's face taped or glued to the head, was clad in a sheriff's uniform and equipped with pink handcuffs. One woman held up the piñata, while two teenage girls took turns bashing it with sticks. The Tucson Citizen ran a picture the next day of a teenage boy carting away the remains of the beheaded piñata.
While the beating of Arpaio in effigy proceeded, Isabel Garcia, head of Humanos Derechos, a group that purports to stand for the dignity of all human beings, stood by and laughed.
The spectacle reminded me of the antics of an extremist on the other side of the issue, a Tucson man who does his best to incite riots by burning Mexican flags in public places. I wondered how Garcia would react if the virulent anti-illegal immigrant hard-liners were to burn her in effigy or hang a papier-mâché figure meant to represent an Mexican illegal immigrant.
Garcia told me Friday that she thought the Arpaio piñata was great, although she said it wasn't brought in by organizers.
"I think it's a fair expression of First Amendment rights. I thought it was funny. It had him with the pink underwear and, of course, his face. And it's a piñata. It was a fun thing for the kids that broke it," she said.
The piñata was symbolic of his policies, his views and his book, not the man personally, Garcia said. "It's not a symbol that we are going to beat him up."
Garcia said she "wouldn't sweat it all" if someone were to bash a piñata in her image. That would be minor compared to the abuse she has faced, including name-calling and plenty of death threats, she said.
"And we're expected to play nice?" she asked.
The protesters did their best to run Arpaio out of town, with signs urging him to go home.
Frankly, as an American, Arpaio has the right to go wherever he pleases.
But more important, the demand that Arpaio get out of our town is as bad as the suggestion by those on the other side of the immigration debate that anyone who dares utter the words "comprehensive immigration reform" should hitch a ride on the next donkey to Mexico.
Garcia responded that Arpaio is a racist who has violated people's civil rights and had a poisonous effect on his community.
"When the people say, 'Go back,' they are making a point of, 'Hey, keep your hatred in Phoenix,' " she said
As Garcia and her fellow protesters proved, we've got plenty of hatred right here in Tucson.
Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/90939.php