Hundreds of protesters greet ‘Sheriff Joe’

Sheriff Joe Arpaio rode into town Friday without his posse, but he was far from alone.

About 200 protesters greeted the polarizing sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., as he arrived at Stoney's Rockin' Country bar and dance hall on south Las Vegas Boulevard for a private "happy hour" with hundreds of local conservatives.

Protesters "follow me everywhere," shrugged the sheriff, who's known for putting inmates in pink underwear and tent cities, leading a volunteer civilian posse, conducting controversial immigration sweeps and, most recently, supporting a new Arizona law that makes it a state crime to be in the country without legal papers.

"I'm just a sheriff from Maricopa County. All I'm doing is my job," he said.

For a good 20 minutes, Arpaio stood just feet from protesters outside Stoney's -- where he was to appear as part of a "First Friday" event for conservatives organized by Citizens Outreach Foundation -- as the protesters shouted, "Arpaio go home!" and "Racist!"

At one point, Las Vegas police officers -- at least a dozen were on the scene -- stepped between Arpaio and the protesters and moved the crowd back.

A handful of counter-protesters also stood outside Stoney's, the loudest of whom was Joseph Tatner, a Republican who is running for Congress.

"To all illegals I say the same: Do it legally," he shouted.

The sheriff, who was wearing a tie clip shaped like a tiny gun, calmly conducted several on-air TV interviews and even spent a few minutes speaking one-on-one with a protester, Karen Benzer, head coordinator of the Southern Nevada Coalition of MoveOn.org.

"He's basically a racist," Benzer said afterward. "But he told me to give him a call if I ever get to Phoenix."

Arpaio's visit was scheduled before passage of the controversial Arizona law, which directs police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the United States illegally.

An amendment to the law, added days after the original was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, says police can question possible illegal immigrants about their status only while enforcing some other law or ordinance.

People across the country protested the law's passage, saying it leads to racial profiling, targets Hispanics and is unconstitutional. Several federal lawsuits against it have been filed, and opponents are pushing a boycott of Arizona.

During an hourlong roundtable interview with local journalists earlier Friday, Arpaio said he doesn't see what the big deal is. Police in Maricopa County already check the immigration status of people who are arrested for other crimes as part of a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said. The Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas has a similar agreement with ICE.

"I know the panic, hype and misinformation is causing people to feel it's worse than it is," he said about the new law, which is set to take effect at the end of July.

He said the call to boycott Arizona is "very sickening."

"It's overreaction across our nation."

The Maricopa County sheriff's office is the subject of a racial-profiling lawsuit related to its partnership with ICE. Asked about it Friday, Arpaio said: "You get a few people that do sue you. They sue you when you go to the toilet sometimes."

But the sheriff, whose office also is being investigated by the Justice Department for allegations of discriminatory police practices, said he is "very uncomfortable with allegations of racial profiling."

"I'm not a racist like people say I am," he said. "If you look at my ... grandkids, you'll see them from every ethnic background."

The investigation had nothing to do with Arpaio's recent decision not to run for governor, he said.

"My polls are higher every time the feds come after me," he said. "The decision was a tough one. The main reason is I wouldn't be here today because I wouldn't be the sheriff anymore. I would have had to resign. I have a little loyalty to my people, and I wasn't about to put them at the mercy of an appointed sheriff."

Arpaio insisted he is not bothered by protesters such as those who met him at Stoney's on Friday. But he later admitted sometimes they get under his skin.

"It makes me sad ... comparing me to Hitler and that type of thing," he said. "Can you resolve a problem and do it in a nice way even though you disagree with each other? Do you have to bring the race card into it? All I try to do is enforce the law, and I'm the bad guy."

But Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, blamed Arpaio for "splitting immigrant families."

"We wanted to send him a message, that the hatred he spews is not wanted here," he said.

But Arpaio "seems to thrive on the controversy," Romero said. "He got what he wanted, but I don't know if we did."

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com.