MCSO investigation: Babeu: Timing of release on Arpaio a smokescreen
By BRIAN WRIGHT
Staff Writer
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| Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio is under fire after a Department of Justice report released earlier this month claimed his department has a “pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos.” Brett Fera/Maricopa Monitor |
So it’s only natural that local and national media outlets would seek comment from Babeu, sheriff of Pinal County, after the U.S. Justice Department released findings of a three-year investigation of Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County, that allege “unconstitutional policing” in Arpaio’s treatment of Latinos, according to a New York Times article published Dec. 15.
According to Tim Gaffney, director of communications for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, as of Tuesday, Babeu had not been provided a copy of the Justice Department’s report. Because Babeu had not read the report, he declined interview requests but released a statement blasting the Justice Department.
“I have little faith in the U.S. Department of Justice after the actions, subsequent cover-up and failure to accept responsibility regarding Operation Fast and Furious,” Babeu said in the statement.
“The fact they chose [Dec. 15] to release their findings was only done to take the attention away from themselves. Today marks the one-year anniversary since the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.”
In its report, the civil rights division of the Justice Department claims the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, headed by Arpaio, has “a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos” that “reaches the highest levels of the agency.”
Operation Fast and Furious, a Justice Department initiative that allowed the sale of more than 2,000 guns, was executed with the idea that the guns would be trafficked to Mexico. The Justice Department believed the large flow of guns to Mexico, which would be easily traced, would allow a strong case to be built against Mexican criminal organizations thought to be the ultimate buyers of the firearms.
Terry was killed on Dec. 15, 2010, in a gunfight near Rio Rico while attempting to apprehend a group of armed suspects.
“The gun which killed Agent Terry was later tied to the failed Operation Fast and Furious,” Babeu said.
”Yet, within 12 hours of the Terry family announcing they want justice against all of those responsible for Operation Fast and Furious, the U.S. Department of Justice decides to release their findings from a 3-and-a-half-year-old investigation on MCSO?
“The timing of the release of the MCSO investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice was only done today in an attempt to take away the negative attention from their responsibilities for Brian’s murder and the murders of hundreds of people in Mexico.”
