Arpaio’s Goon Squad Singles Out ACLU Law Professor at Protest for Arrest

Link: ACLU official says his arrest was unwarranted.

Sheriff Joe "Most Authoritarian and Abusive Sheriff in America" Arpaio is at it again. As if witch-hunting the New Times on trumped up charges, arresting the publishers for harassment value, and crocodile tears over his ‘victimization’ by having his address published weren’t enough. This time, his deputies arrested Daniel Pochoda, a law professor and the legal director of the ACLU of Arizona for asserting his rights during a protest of the draconian new employer sanction law.

Sheriff’s deputies claim that Pochoda was arrested for trespass after being asked repeatedly by the lot’s owner to remove his vehicle. Pochoda says that’s just not so. "Nothing unlawful occurred on my part, but that was not the story that
was told. It [his arrest] was not deliberate. It was not
provoked or wanted. The arrests and handcuffs came after I identified
myself with the ACLU and gave the two sheriff’s deputies my card as the
legal director."

Sheriff Joe "What Constitution?" Arpaio says. "I hear he was trying to debate, and then wouldn’t stop." Apparently, giving any lip to Joe and his goons is now a crime. Standing up for your rights is now a crime. Being educated about one’s civil liberties, and actually invoking them to question the arbitrary excercise of police power is now a crime. Call it "trespass" or whatever convenient bullshit charge a deputy can pull out thin air to suit the situation, it comes down to the fact that Sheriff Joe "Kiss My Ring, Peon" Arpaio is trying to make questioning his ‘authority’ a crime.