Border securityMexican drug cartel offers $1 million for Sheriff Arpaio's head
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is well-known for creating a tent city jail in the Arizona desert, providing pink underwear for inmates, and bragging that he spends more to feed his dog than a prisoner in his jail; on 29 July, the day parts of Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, went into effect, Arpaio was in the news for another reason: there was a price put on his head
Maricopa County, Arizona Sherrif Joe Arapaio is the target of a $1 million dollar "hit contract" // Source: infidelsparadise.com
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been at the center of the discussions and controversies surrounding illegal immigration enforcement in Arizona for quite a while. Arpaio is well-known for creating a tent city jail in the Arizona desert, providing pink underwear for inmates, and bragging that he spends more to feed his dog than a prisoner in his jail.
On 29 July, the day parts of Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, went into effect, Arpaio was in the news for another reason: there was a price put on his head — allegedly offered by a Mexican drug cartel.
FoxPhoenix.com reports that an audio message in Spanish it had obtained is a bit garbled, but the text is clear. It is offering $1 million for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s head and $10,000 for anyone who wants to join the Mexican cartel. Quite a few people in Arizona received text messages that say the same thing.
Lisa Allen of the Sheriff’s office says although the Sheriff has received numerous death threats in the past, they believe this threat is credible because of its timing. “Arpaio gets threats pretty routinely, but obviously with this heightened awareness of his role in the immigration issue we’ve got to take this one a little bit more seriously with a million dollar contract out on him,” said Allen.
She said what really concerns investigators is how quickly the message may have been spread. “It’s going so many different places that our folks are looking at it and thinking well at any given point in time it could land in front of some crazy person who thinks I can do that.”
As for Arpaio’s reaction to the threat, “It’s a little bit like water off a duck’s back for him, but you never know if it’s that sense of false bravado with him..you just can’t read it, I’m sure he’s concerned, I’m sure he’s concerned for his family more than anything else,” said Allen.
The Sheriff’s office says investigators are trying to trace exactly where the text message came from, but because it did originate from an international number, that will be difficult too.
