Outside Group Behind Phoenix Immigration Protest
Outside Group Behind Phoenix Immigration Protest
Updated: Thursday, 22 Mar 2012, 12:41 PM MST
Published : Thursday, 22 Mar 2012, 6:51 AM MST
PHOENIX (AP) - A group from outside Arizona is claiming responsibility for organizing this week's west Phoenix protest that led to the closure of an intersection and the arrest of six illegal immigrants.
The group called Dream Activist is an online organization based in several states. The group has organized acts of civil disobedience in more than six cities in recent years.
During Tuesday's protest, about 150 people, including many high-school students, sat in the street to protest the immigration policies of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Six people including two teenagers were arrested by Phoenix police on suspicion of disrupting a thoroughfare and disorderly conduct. Federal authorities determined the six are here illegally.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Wednesday that they determined the protesters did not fall under "ICE's enforcement priorities."
Sheriff Arpaio talked to FOX 10's John Hook about the issue:
"I think this is a staged event that when they had the demonstration actually making me the poster boy probably trying to influence the Department of Justice investigation against me. They knew when they went in there that they would be released," he said.
Arpaio is referring to the DoJ's investigation into claims that MCSO practices racial profiling.
He also says he'll keep an eye on any of the illegal aliens I.C.E. lets "go out the back door."
Outside Group Behind Phoenix Immigration Protest
