Thread: NC: Activists push for Johnston sheriff Bizzell to quit

Activists push for Johnston sheriff Bizzell to quit
His comments on Mexicans continue to rankle

By Kristin Collins, Staff Writer

Immigrant and civil rights activists say they will not be silent until Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell resigns.

About two dozen advocacy organizations signed onto a letter Friday to the Johnston County commissioners, asking the board to encourage the sheriff to leave his post in the wake of public statements that Mexicans are "trashy" and "breeding like rabbits."

"Sheriff Bizzell's remarks raise serious doubts about his department's ability to protect and serve all residents of Johnston County regardless of race or ethnicity," reads the letter, drafted primarily by the statewide Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo.

Others that signed included the N.C. Justice Center, the Latino Community Credit Union and the North Carolina chapters of the NAACP and the National Organization for Women.

The groups sent a similar letter to Craven County Sheriff Jerry Monette, who took over presidency of the N.C. Sheriffs Association in July. Bizzell held the post before Monette.

Irene Godinez, advocacy director for El Pueblo, said the group is also planning a prayer vigil outside the Johnston County courthouse next weekend, which she said would allow the county's Hispanic residents to "come together and do some healing."

And the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina branch of the NAACP, said he is gathering clergy members to press for a meeting with Bizzell, during which they will ask him to resign.

"This is not just anybody, this is a leader of sheriffs," Barber said. "We cannot just turn this loose. Any people of conscience ought to be deeply concerned."

Barber and other advocates said they are disappointed that statewide elected leaders have not condemned Bizzell's statements.

Bizzell's comments were made in a Sept. 7 story in The News & Observer, detailing the sheriff's concerns about an influx of Latino residents in Johnston County. He said Hispanics were committing crimes, sapping social services and threatening traditional culture.

Bizzell apologized for the comments but has not spoken publicly since. He could not be reached for comment.

Cookie Pope, chairwoman of the Johnston County commissioners, said the board had no authority to ask for Bizzell's resignation. Sheriffs are elected by county residents.

She declined to express an opinion about the sheriff's statements and praised him for cooperating with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is investigating whether Bizzell's office has engaged in ethnic profiling.

"He's a good friend of mine," Pope said. "We've all said and done things that we wish we hadn't said or wish we hadn't done. He apologized."

Efforts to reach Monette, the president of the Sheriffs Association, were unsuccessful.

Hispanic advocates say Bizzell's comments shine a light on the increasingly hostile tone of the national immigration debate. They say they hope the incident will stir increased activism.

"My hope is that we'll keep the pressure on," said Ilana Dubester, a Hispanic activist in Chatham County. "This is not just happening in Johnston County. The debate has sunk to such low levels of irrationality and fear that we really can't get anything accomplished."

kristin.collins@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4881
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1225555.html

The sheriff should not make ethnic comments. Johnson County must join the 287g program and assist in deporting all illegal aliens.

Related posts at
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-132305-0.html

Sheriff Steve Bizzell is right, illegal aliens are trashy.

Millions of tons of garbage has been strewn around and egregious environmental damage caused by the illegal aliens ‘seeking a better life’ as they pass through our southern border. What has happened to the once pristine border area as a result of illegal immigration? On average, each illegal alien drops eight pounds of trash while making his way into America (Forbes Magazine: June 7, 2004; Arizona Daily Star: August 24, 2005). At a conservative estimate of one million illegals per year crossing our southern border that means eight million pounds of trash is added each year to the already existing millions of pounds from previous years to blow around the desert.

Not only does the trash do damage to the environment, the cleanup is extremely expensive. Tens of thousands of dollars just out of the Yuma, AZ Border Patrol field office have been spent over the past couple of years cleaning up trash related to illegal border crossers.

Authorities estimate the 3.2 million-plus immigrants caught by the Border Patrol dropped 25 million pounds of garbage in the southern Arizona desert from July 1999 through June 2005. The figure assumes that each illegal immigrant discards eight pounds of trash, the weight of some abandoned backpacks found in the desert.

The trash is piling up faster than it can be cleaned up. Considering that the Border Patrol apprehended more than 577,000 illegal immigrants in 2004-05 alone, the BLM figures that those people left almost 4 million pounds of trash that same year.

That’s 16 times what was picked up in three years. And that doesn’t include the unknown amounts of garbage left by border-crossers who don’t get caught.

In 2002, the United States estimated that removing all litter from lands just in southeast Arizona — east of the Tohono Reservation — would cost about $4.5 million over five years. This count didn’t include such trash hotbeds as Ironwood Forest National Monument, the Altar Valley, Organ Pipe and Cabeza Prieta.

From 2002-2005 alone more than 250,000 pounds of trash was picked up in Southern Arizona. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management estimates that there is more than 25 million pounds of trash left out there by illegal aliens crossing the southern border. The estimates are too low though because they don't include certain areas of the border or trash left by illegal aliens who weren't caught.

The costs for picking up all of this trash? Estimates start at $62.9 million over 5 years. That is just for the current trash, of course. As more gets left behind you can increase that bill.

I'm wondering where the environmentalists who opposed the border fence are? Shouldn't they be appalled and protesting this with vigor?

If the illegals treat our environment in this matter when they are just passing through to whatever destination they are heading, why would you expect any different behavior once they settle in somewhere?

So yes, sadly…it is a perfectly correct statement to say…Mexicans are trashy.

"He's a good friend of mine," Pope said. "We've all said and done things that we wish we hadn't said or wish we hadn't done. He apologized."

Why do these people insist on being coddled? The man apologized-let it go! I hope he continues to do his job and not give in to this. It's total overkill.

I wouldn't waste any time reading what Kristin Collins has to say. She is the same one that has attacked ALIPAC and William Gheen on several occasions.

I left comments at the site. And I stated IF THEY demonstrate at the Johnston Co. courthouse next week-end I WILL BE THERE!

Johnston Co. is my County, so damn skippy I will be there to protest their "prayer vigil". I'll be holding up signs in support of Bizzell! Anyone care to join me? I'll be keeping tabs on if this "vigil" is going to happen, cause I WILL NOT let this slide!

Originally Posted by nomas

I left comments at the site. And I stated IF THEY demonstrate at the Johnston Co. courthouse next week-end I WILL BE THERE!

Johnston Co. is my County, so damn skippy I will be there to protest their "prayer vigil". I'll be holding up signs in support of Bizzell! Anyone care to join me? I'll be keeping tabs on if this "vigil" is going to happen, cause I WILL NOT let this slide!

Have a video camera with you and another person for corroboration of what happens if you are attacked. Don't do anything to incite and have your sign only as support for the sheriff. Don't put anything racial on it.

Originally Posted by Gogo

Originally Posted by nomas

I left comments at the site. And I stated IF THEY demonstrate at the Johnston Co. courthouse next week-end I WILL BE THERE!

Johnston Co. is my County, so damn skippy I will be there to protest their "prayer vigil". I'll be holding up signs in support of Bizzell! Anyone care to join me? I'll be keeping tabs on if this "vigil" is going to happen, cause I WILL NOT let this slide!

Have a video camera with you and another person for corroboration of what happens if you are attacked. Don't do anything to incite and have your sign only as support for the sheriff. Don't put anything racial on it. Maybe something like "if Garcia can protest in AZ so can Sheriff Bizzel.