Thread: Immigrant rights advocate e-mails unflattering picture...

Doctored Arpaio Photo Stirs Controversy
August 15th, 2007 @ 4:52pm
by Bob McClay/KTAR

"This photo was forwarded to FM News/Talk 92.3 KTAR from Elias Bermudez of Immigrants without Borders and does not reflect the beliefs of KTAR."

A picture of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is stirring some controversy.

The picture shows Arpaio in a Ku Klux Klan outfit, placing a noose around a Hispanic man.

KTAR received the photo in an e-mail from immigrant rights activist Elias Bermudez of Immigrants without Borders.

Bermudez said he didn't create the picture, but he e-mailed it out.

Arpaio is upset about the picture. "He is placing me and my wife in danger," Arpaio said.

"I'm enforcing that law and I'm continuing to do it," Arpaio told FM News/Talk 92.3's Darrell Ankarlo Thursday morning.

Adding that he's the child of Italian immigrants, he said he's going to put more resources into fighting illegal immigration. "They can put that into their pipes and smoke."

"You think this worries me? It makes me angry. But it doesn't worry me."

He said the activists are using the image "trying to agitate."

When asked if he was conducting a special investigation of Bermudez, his response: "I'm not going to talk about it."

Arpaio claims he's being compared to Hitler. "They said that my program is a throwback to the Third Right [Reich]," Arpaio said.

"I don't compare him to Hitler, because he hasn't gotten to that point," Bermudez said. "But it sure is pointed in that direction."

Bermudez admitted the picture won't help the immigrant rights movement. "This is going to hurt our cause in the eyes of those who are saying we are crying racism here," Bermudez said.

But it's the way some Hispanics feel about the sheriff.

"If you say what you feel and you do as you say, then it is going to have some kind a reaction," Bermudez said.

Bermudez doesn't care if the picture hurts Arpaio, because ... "We are being hurt on a daily basis when our husbands, and wives and kids are being taken away," Bermudez said.

Another person who received the e-mail was Bill Strauss of the Anti-Defamation League.

He said the picture doesn't further the cause of immigrant rights. "Showing Joe Arpaio holding a noose, with a Hispanic man in the background and Joe is in Klan robes. This is a despicable portrayal," Strauss said.

Strauss said just because the two sides differ on the immigration issue, it doesn't mean Arpaio is a member of the Klan.

Strauss said he's friends with both Arpaio and Bermudez. He said he admires Bermudez's passion for the immigration issue, but called the picture a "complete injustice."

http://www.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=568800

hi im new here, i think this site is totally for me, i mean i am pro immigration but what about illegal do some not get? about illegals in the hispanic community fearing joe Arpaio? the should! they should fear any law as all criminals do i mean ok if i am breaking the law shouldnt i be worried about having cops over for dinner? ;p

really makes me mad when they compare illegals to blacks in the 50s i mean thats total disrespect. blacks were not breaking the law or coming here illegally, its like someone breaks into your house and then tells you to make them a sandwich

does anyone have the contact details of Joe Arpaio or ElÃ*as Bermúdez

thanks

Perhaps the sheriff should sue for defamation of character. Had someone mass emailed a picture of Janet Murguia or another official of "The Race" wearing a KKK hood and sheet superimposed with the La Raza insignia, the ACLU would be all over it. This double standard is really getting old.

Welcome, Ice!

This thread is useless without pictures!

On second thought I am sadly mistaken. I looked at the picture and it's not of the caliber we have come to expect on this message board.

Instead here is an early one for Caturday.

this is the picture in question

That is beyond reprehensible -

If we had done anything near that, some of us would probably be finding a lawyer to try to keep them from taking our home.

you know, it is not just that i can't believe the black community isn't going nuts over this. I mean to even compare illegals to blacks is just shameful.

Originally Posted by Ice

you know, it is not just that i can't believe the black community isn't going nuts over this. I mean to even compare illegals to blacks is just shameful.

Check your facts, Ice. The black community IS going nuts over this. At least 80% of ALL Americans are outraged, that includes the black community. Don't rely on the behavior of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson as your gauge. They don't represent the black community other than in their own minds, and the MSM encourages them.

I agree with you, it is an affront to every decent law-abiding black person in America to be compared with criminal invader parasites.

i dont listen to a word either of those two fools have to say i know for a fact when they talk most of the black community looks away and ignores them

WELCOME TO ALIPAC ICE!!!