Vol. 73/No. 45      November 23, 2009

Arpaio drew nationwide attention in February when he forced more than 200 Latino prisoners to march through the streets of Phoenix before TV news cameras, in shackles and prison stripes, from the jail to a tent prison set up to detain immigrants in the desert.

Nearly two dozen Arpaio supporters showed up carrying American flags and signs that read, “Deport La Raza." They were cordoned off behind three squad cars. Other cop cars patrolled the area.

The rightist sheriff was in town to endorse Jay La Suer, a 31-year veteran sheriff's deputy who is running for sheriff of San Diego County in a June 2010 election. Many cops and others attended the $150-a-plate fund dinner.

Outside the chants were continuous and loud. Defiant boos and cheers drowned out every racist and derogatory epithet shouted by Arpaio's supporters. Protesters could be heard a quarter of a mile away. The demonstrators—most of whom were Latinos, the big majority young adults and college students—remained disciplined with well-organized security monitors.

Salvador Reza, a Native American from Phoenix, was warmly welcomed by the protesters. He spoke to the crowd about the continued abuses by cops, deputized posses, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the roundup and incarceration of immigrants.

A long-time veteran of the Chicano-Mexicano Brown Berets, David Rico, stated to cheers, "You [Arpaio] aren't real, you know we are more than 11 million, you know we will win. We aren't going anywhere, but you will."

A report on the 11-year struggle to free the Cuban Five by Gary Wilhite, a member of the California School Employees Association, drew a brief and respectful quiet moment.

Arpaio later came out and stood behind the parked cop cars to address his supporters. He was drowned out by the pro-immigrant rights protesters.  
 
 
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