Republican senator john mccain, of Arizona, criticized President Trump for granting a presidential pardon for former Maricopa County, AZ, sheriff Joe Arpaio. McCain asserted that Arpaio has not evidenced remorse. Arpaio was convicted in July of misdemeanor criminal contempt. He profiled Latinos illegally after a court ordered him to cease detaining people based on suspicion of their immigration status.
McCain acknowledged the president’s authority to pardon Arpaio. At the same time, though, he said the decision to do so undermines the president’s stance on having respect for rule of law. Arpaio was slated for sentencing on October 5. He could have faced a maximum jail term of six months.
Republican Senator Jeff Flake, also of Arizona, stated his criticism of the president’s exercise of the presidential pardon, as well. Flake said that he would have preferred if the president would have honored the judicial process.
The chairman of the Texas Federation of Hispanic Republicans, Artemio Muniz, relayed that he is “beyond disgusted” by the Presidential pardon, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Muniz also said that the pardon basically puts Arpaio above the law.
Former sheriff found guilty of racial profiling
United States District Court Judge Susan Ritchie Bolton, for the District of Arizona, handed down a ruling last month that Arpaio deliberately violated a 2011 court order to stop racially profiling and detaining Latinos.
Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego, AZ, expressed that the president is “an absolute coward” for the pardon of Arpaio, “a man who engaged in racist police practices,” the Times reported. An effect of pardoning the former sheriff, according to Gallego, is that the legal system couldn’t deliver justice. He said, “We’ll now seek justice through elections,” he stated, along with, “Republicans in open districts in Arizona should be on edge.”
Arturo S.
Rodriguez, United Farm Workers President, said that immigrants have repeatedly proven to be the backbone of agriculture and other industries. He believes President Trump should have declined to grant a pardon for “someone who has been so vicious towards immigrants,” The Republic reported.
The Democratic mayor of Tempe, AZ, Mark Mitchell said the pardon is more than meets the eye, calling it “a direct attack on all of those in our community who were outraged by Arpaio’s administration.”
Current Maricopa County sheriff defeated presently pardoned former sheriff
The current sheriff of Maricopa County, Paul Penzone, said, “The court made its decision, the President made his, but the people had the final say in November,” according to the Republic.
The Democratic challenger defeated Arpaio, after serving 24 years as sheriff. Penzone garnered 56 percent of votes.
Vera Anderson is an activist, a political organizer, a Republican, and 76-years-old from Arizona. She believes “nothing can be accomplished” by sentencing 85-year-old Arpaio to jail, the Times reported. She contends that Arpaio’s critics targeted him improperly. She also asserts that the people who were gunning for the former sheriff politically “have been after him for years.”
The White House issued a statement about the pardoning of Arpaio that reinforced the former sheriff’s endeavors to protect the public from “scourges of crime and illegal immigration,” so wrote The Hill. The statement also conveyed the president’s belief that Arpaio was deserving of the pardon.