As the Gulf Coast of Texas was being ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, Donald Trump figured that would be the perfect cover to pardon a bigoted former Sheriff.
Friday night, Joe Arpaio received his presidential pardon from No. 45 in a move that everyone saw coming.
Trump pardons Arpaio, per White House
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 26, 2017
Arpaio – who received the pardon under the ruse of him being 85 and a military veteran – was also convicted of contempt stemming from his illegal racial profiling that violated the civil rights of many minorities in Arizona. Likewise, the pardon came without the recommendation of the Department of Justice, which means Trump executed the pardon without Jeff Sessions’ (of all people) blessing.
The former Sheriff – along with Trump – led the charge in the racist birther movement against President Obama, has also been accused of inhumane jail conditions where of which he’d serve inmates (awaiting trial) moldy bread and rotten fruit. That of course was in addition to the accusations he overlooked sexual assault complaints amid the laundry list of other controversies that hovered around his tenure as sheriff.
I could go on but I don’t have that much time. However you can continue to take a look at Arpaio’s bigoted history while at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office by clicking here.
As far as Trump goes, Arpaio’s pardoning will do nothing to cool the tensions between his administration and minorities in the country. Or the calls that the President himself continues to give racists that sick legitimacy.
