“Americas Toughest Sheriff” Joe Arpaio visited North Carolina last weekend to campaign for Jim Pendergraph, an ex sheriff who is running for Congress. Arpaio was met by dozens of protesters holding signs questioning why the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office didn’t adequately investigate hundreds of sex crime cases.
In a press statement, the activists stated, “Both sheriffs (one current and one former) position themselves as being “tough” on immigration, but Arpaio’s pursuit of constitutionally dubious policies has cost over 400 victims of sex crimes, many of whom were molested children, justice in Maricopa County (link: http://nyti.ms/Ihgv36). More than 400 botched investigations were lost between 2005 and 2007 alone. They thankfully came to light late last year after journalistic investigation.”
The protesters came from a number of organizations in North Carolina including the Occupy Charlotte movement and students from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. See below for photographs of the event.