A 26-year Maricopa County sheriff, he has performed nationally for stunts that critics have called cruel and inhumane, including making prisoners wear pink underwear and eat moldy food. became famous. He was also found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring a judge’s order demanding that his department stop racially profiling Latinos. President Donald Trump bailed him out with a presidential pardon.

Since then, Arpaio has largely lost his political relevance. He ran for mayor this year in the sleepy Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills.it’s his 3 consecutive bids He has held elected office since he lost the sheriff’s seat in 2016.

And he lost again — even though his campaign spent 100 More than double from your opponent.

But Sheriff Joe, now 90, hasn’t lost it all. Some say he had a tremendous impact on the minds and spirits of his cop colleagues — an influence that may have helped fuel threats to democracy.

After using his cowboy charisma and racist stunts to become a celebrity, Arpaio used his platform to elevate the constitutional sheriff movement. This ideology claims that the sheriff is the county’s best cop, above the federal government.

Movement of the Constitutional Sheriff

US sheriffs, especially in western states, has a history of anti-government and right-wing movements.

However, some experts say Arpaio’s prominence helped bring radical ideologies into the mainstream. supreme authority in their jurisdiction. The belief that county sheriffs hold the ultimate trump card against federal law enforcement has a name and an organization for card-bearing members.He is the Association of Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers.

The Constitutional Sheriff’s beliefs are a rebranding of the far-right Posse Comitatus movement of the 1970s, a violent rebel group rife with racism and anti-Semitism.

Experts like Rachel Carol Rivas, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, say that sheriffs’ adherence to this ideology is a threat to democracy.This ideology has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially in Arizona The “ground zero” of the movementan expert told the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.

The constitutional sheriff’s ideology raises the question, “Who can defy the laws of the country,” Rivas said.

“They are law enforcement officers who do not abide by the law and are incredibly dangerous to the people of our community. [and] democracy as a whole. ”

celebrity sheriff

Over the years, the constitutional sheriff movement has enjoyed many “celebrity sheriffs” who have helped spread the ideology, Rivas said. It was the first company to gain supporters.

“Historically, one of the people who made more publicity than many others was actually Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona,” Rivas said. “He was something of a hero for the sheriff movement.”

Arpaio’s success is due in part to “he combined two key elements of the far right: this kind of anti-sheriff chauvinist ideas, misconceptions, anti-immigrant sentiment, and immigration targeting.” both,” she said.

Arpaio supported the Constitutional Sheriff Movement during one’s tenureRivas said he worked “hand in hand” with CSPOA leader Richard Mack in the early days of the CSPOA. Not only did the duo work closely together, Arpaio’s face is also printed on the back of his CSPOA propaganda.

In 2009, Mack A 50-page pamphlet outlining the organization’s ideology. A picture of Arpaio is on the back cover of the booklet.

So are his words.

“The sheriff is the highest law enforcement agency in his county and in this country,” said Arpaio’s statement in the booklet.

“This book should be read by every citizen, every police officer, especially every sheriff in these United States,” he continued.

Despite the pamphlet, and the fact that he is a paying member of the organization, Arpaio denies that he ever supported the movement. Nor do we want credit for raising Instead, he calls himself a “lone ranger”.

“I never called myself a Constitutional Sheriff,” he said. “You will never hear me say that.”

“I do what I feel. I don’t need a bureaucratic or political group or any group telling me what to do,” he added. “I will do what I think is right for the people of this county.”

Arpaio also said he wasn’t friends with the other sheriffs either. When asked if he had a fellow law enforcement officer he looked up to, he said, “No.” said no.

But when he talks about the sheriff’s role, he’s describing just that ideology.and he stops short of condemnation A constitutional sheriff’s ideology, movement, or organization.

In the past, he has publicly supported the group. almost ten years ago Arpaio and about 500 sheriffs announced that it will not comply with federal laws requiring the confiscation of guns from civilians. In other words, they declared that they would be picky about the laws they enforce.

another arpio

Rivas said Trump justified Arpaio’s authority over the federal government by granting him a presidential pardon in 2017.

“Trump’s pardon for our Arpaio was one of the victories of far-right movements in the United States, especially anti-government and anti-immigrant movements,” she said. “It further justified some very dangerous ideas about who could defy the laws of the country.”

Since Arpaio left office, the ranks of the organization seem to have risen, but that is difficult to measure. Jessica Pischkoformer attorney, researcher, and author of the forthcoming book The Highest Law in the Land about sheriffs.

L.Last year, the CSPOA told The Washington Post: 10% of U.S. Sheriffs member of the organization.

Arpaio didn’t start the movement, but he gave fellow law enforcement officers and people across the country “a template for how sheriffs can get away with it,” Pishko said.

He showed other sheriffs, and the public, that “you can break all the laws and obviously have no repercussions for it,” she said.

But one aspect of Arpaio’s legacy has fallen out of public debate, according to Pischko.

“The whole political machine doesn’t take into account the fact that it can hold actors accountable,” she said.

“Why was he chosen so many times and no one else? No one thought to stop what he had been doing for so long?”

Arizona and the federal government have not taken steps to prevent Arpaio from recurring, she said.

He’s been away for years, but the former sheriff hopes his fans don’t forget him — and he’s taken steps to make sure they don’t.

Many cops don’t write multiple books about themselves or sell autographed pink boxers even after they retire.

Arpaio does. In an interview in October, he boasted that former FBI Director Robert Mueller has one of his signed boxers.

“People forget about you. See?” said Arpaio.

“They don’t forget me.”

***Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the interview with Arpaio took place “last month.” Actually, the interview was in October.