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By Erica Meltzer

Defender's role in protest probed
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.06.2008

The actions of Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia at a protest last month against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio are "under review" after top county officials were flooded with complaints.

Garcia, who is active with the immigrant rights group Derechos Humanos, participated in a protest at a signing event at a Barnes & Noble bookstore promoting a book by Arpaio, who has a national reputation for anti-illegal-immigrant raids and tough jail conditions.

Videos posted on YouTube show Garcia picking up the head of a piñata representing Arpaio after several teenagers smashed it, and carrying around the head.

Local talk radio picked up the story and urged listeners to call the county and demand Garcia be fired, resulting in hundreds of e-mails to county officials.

A dozen people waited 4 1/2 hours Tuesday to tell the Board of Supervisors they consider Garcia's actions an assault on all law enforcement officers everywhere. They compared the demonstration to displays by "Middle Eastern terrorists" and said it was disgraceful for a top county employee to encourage lawbreaking in the form of illegal immigration.

The speakers ranged from anti-illegal-immigrant activist Roy Warden, who has earned notoriety by publicly burning the Mexican flag, to Larry Lopez, president of the Tucson Police Officers Association.

"The visuals were such that it was acceptable to beat another person, particularly a law enforcement officer," said Jan Blaser-Upchurch, the widow of DPS Sgt. John Blaser, who was killed by a drunk driver. "For a person in a management position in any organization to walk around with the severed head of another person in effigy is sickening."

Another dozen people praised Garcia for her years of work for immigrant rights and said there is a long history of using piñatas as political symbols.

"To say we are committing violence against Joe Arpaio by hitting a papier-mâche doll is a joke," said Leiloni Clark, who held the piñata during the demonstration.

"When you put together a demonstration, you look for ways to make your point in a vivid way," said Andy Silverman, a member of No More Deaths and a law professor at the University of Arizona.

"That may be burning the flag of a sovereign nation," said Silverman, in reference to Warden's actions. "That may be beating a piñata. It's symbolic. In no way does it represent harm to an actual individual."

Detective Aaron Douglas, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, said the protest went too far.

"It's not symbolic," he said. "It was in uniform, which represents law enforcement. It had a picture of his face. How is that symbolic?"

Douglas said Arpaio was not aware of the beating of the piñata until after the fact, and he did not fear for his safety in any way during the protest.

But five days later, Arpaio did have a deputy chief send a letter to Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry saying Garcia's actions advocated racism and violent assault.

Garcia did not return phone calls Tuesday, but in a public statement on Derechos Humanos' Web site, she said she stood for peace and justice and the violence against the piñata could not compare to the violence of Arpaio's policies.

"The youth did not hit Arpaio," she wrote. "They hit the piñata to break the policies that keep us fearful of each other, and that have caused so much pain to so many hardworking men, women and children."

Arpaio's letter prompted Supervisor Ann Day to ask Huckelberry whether Garcia's activism is a distraction from her county position, which she has held since 1992, and whether Garcia's behavior violated county policies.

"It is my opinion that her actions at the Barnes and Noble event bring discredit to Pima County," Day wrote in a memo sent last month. Reached for comment Tuesday, she said she could not comment on personnel matters.

Huckelberry said Garcia's actions are "under review" and have been for several weeks. Garcia is an at-will employee, meaning she serves at the pleasure of the county administrator and does not have protections under the Merit System.

Huckelberry said he believes Garcia is careful about accounting for her time and not using county resources for her activism, but he is looking into the accusations.

He said county guidelines are vague about political or other controversial activities on private time.

"It's an issue, but is it a violation of code? Probably not," he said. "It's an issue of judgment. But what's the penalty for poor judgment?

"Our rules of conduct are pretty vague on off-duty conduct," he added. "This may prompt us to adopt more specific rules."

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