Civil rights advocate using text messages to thwart racist Sheriff (Arpaio)

[The Straight Story]

Civil rights advocate using text messages to thwart racist Sheriff


PHOENIX (psburton) — a civil rights advocate is using text messages to alert residents when the local Sheriff conducts one of his infamous immigration sweeps. Lydia Guzman, the director of a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, is the trunk of a grass roots texting tree designed to alert thousands of people within minutes of sheriff Joe Arpaio deploying his private army of sworn officers and volunteer special deputies called posse members.

The Sheriff calls the sweeps crime suppression actions, but to most civil libertarians, law professors and critics, it’s simply an excuse by a reputed racist with a badge to abuse minorities. Ms. Guzman said her text messages are part of an effort to protect folks from becoming victims of racial profiling by sheriff’s deputies and posse members. “Everyone is responsible for sending it out to their own networks, and that is how it spreads like wildfire,” Guzman said of her text messages.

Sheriff Arpaio insists his deputies do not engage in racial profiling, He said he suspects the real goal of the text messages is to help illegal immigrants avoid arrest. “This little group of people is in favor of open borders, and they don’t like what I am doing. That is the bottom line,” Arpaio said. “But it isn’t interfering with my operation because we still arrest a good number of people, including illegal aliens.” Sheriff Arpaio has conducted 13 sweeps since 2008, arresting 669 people, many of whom were held on immigration violations.

The Federal government recently stripped the sheriff of his authority to enforce federal immigration law and Arpaio held a news conference to put federal authorities on notice he is the law in Maricopa county Arizona. Despite precedent and prior rulings from the United States Supreme court concerning freedom of speech, the sheriff warns his opponents they are walking a line between exercising free speech and breaking the law. He claims the texts are tipping off human-smuggling organizations though he declines to provide any evidence to support his claims.

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[sabrina 1]

1. People like this give me hope when I feel Americans don't

care about human rights anymore. I give her credit, as this criminal and human rights abuser is well known for using his position to go after political opponents.

He is a brutal dictator and I don't understand, with all the charges against him, how he has not been brought to trial yet for some of his crimes against people, like the deaths of those who died in his custody.

[Danger Mouse]

2. They either fear him or they love him. Can't tell which it is.

[JoeyT]

3. Next up:

Roadblocks with manditory cellphone confiscation for anyone darker than a specific shade of brown or any accent that can't accurately be described as "hick".
It's no more unconstitutional than some of the other things they've had to prevent Joe from doing.