Video included at source

Group demands Feds investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Author: Joel Wendland
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 12/17/08 13:19

America's Voice, a group that favors comprehensive and humanitarian immigration reform, released a new Web video this week slamming infamous Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The video calls on the Justice Department to investigate Arpaio for what it describes as habitual racial profiling and a systematic failure to address real crime problems in his jurisdiction. According to America's Voice, while Arpaio seems obsessed with catching immigrants he supposes to be in the country illegally, some 40,000 felony warrants remain outstanding in his jurisdiction.

An Arizona Republic study published in November also revealed that Arpaio's office specifically targeted Latinos for arrest after minor traffic violations and during anti-immigrant round-ups.

"Rather than focusing on crime and criminals, Arpaio has made anyone with brown skin a potential target for arrest," Paco Fabián, spokesperson for America's Voice, noted in a press statement.

Earlier this week, members of Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, a group concerned about Arpaio’s record, held a protest outside the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting to hold Arpaio accountable for his actions. Several protesters were arrested.

At least 2,700 lawsuits for violations of civil rights have been filed against Arpaio.

“I thought the days of the OK Corral and Tombstone were over,â€