In a press conference in which he was supposed to talk about the Phoenix light rail, Mayor Gordon called on Arpaio to distance himself from his extremist allies:
GORDON: He has given a sense of recognition to the Nazis and neo-Nazis that he’s associated with…and so I ask the Sheriff today to publically disavow his associations with these hate mongerars and apologize so we can begin righting the ship.
Joe Arpaio, America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff,” has won right-wing praise for his controversial immigration enforcement tactics and is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegations of “discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures…and of allegations of national origin discrimination.”
The Anti-Defamation League recently noted that well-known white supremacists showed up at a march protesting Arpaio’s anti-immigrant tactics and hurled racial epithets to “incite violence in support of Sheriff Arpaio.” Arpaio posed for a picture with his neo-Nazi supporters and a video was released shortly after of them assuring Arpaio, “Sheriff, we have your back.” Watch it:
According to Arizona’s KTAR radio, “Arpaio has responded to Gordon’s comments by calling him a liar and saying his accusations are false.”