Okay, first of all, I hope this poor woman comes out of this okay! What a tragedy! No reason one can give can condone this kind of act, I don’t care who the target is. And to have innocent people get caught in the crossfire only makes it worse. It is amazing, though, that she has so far survived her attack. Being shot in the head is obviously no minor matter.
However, what is scary about this attack isn’t so much that a single person lost it and shot a congresswoman and random people in a crowd–that doesn’t happen often enough to concern me really–but it’s all the ramifications that are going to come out of this. Already I see it coming through the liberal media, all the contemplating of what could have driven this man to kill those people and to target a congressperson! Interestingly I did not find a single mention of her political leanings, which was democrat, so I am not sure yet if that was done on purpose on not. I need to read more about this.
Suspect in attack on congresswoman acted alone
AP/Chris Carlson
Well-wishers gather outside the offices of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., during a candlelight vigil for Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011.
AP – Emergency personnel attend to a shooting victim outside a shopping center in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday, …
By PAULINE ARRILLAGA and AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Pauline Arrillaga And Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press – 58 mins ago
TUCSON, Ariz. – Federal prosecutors brought charges Sunday against the gunman accused of attempting to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people at a political event in Arizona.
Investigators said they carried out a search warrant at Jared Loughner’s home and seized an envelope from a safe with messages such as “I planned ahead,” “My assassination” and the name “Giffords” next to what appears to be the man’s signature. He allegedly purchased the Glock pistol used in the attack in November at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Tucson.
Court documents also show that Loughner had contact with Giffords in the past. Other evidence included a letter addressed to him from Giffords’ congressional stationery in which she thanked him for attending a “Congress on your Corner” event at a mall in Tucson in 2007.
Heather Williams, the first assistant federal public defender in Arizona, says the 22-year-old suspect doesn’t yet have a lawyer, but that her office is working to get one appointed. Williams’ office is asking for an outside attorney because one of those killed was U.S. District Judge John M. Roll.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Sunday that Loughner acted alone.
AFP/Getty Images/John Moore
Meanwhile, authorities released 911 calls in which a person witnessing the mass shooting outside a grocery store in Tucson describes a frantic scene and says, “I do believe Gabby Giffords was hit.”
Loughner fired at Giffords’ district director and shot indiscriminately at staffers and others standing in line to talk to the congresswoman, said Mark Kimble, a communications staffer for Giffords.
“He was not more than three or four feet from the congresswoman and the district director,” Kimble said, describing the scene as “just complete chaos, people screaming, crying.”
Map
Loughner is accused of killing six people, including an aide to Giffords and a 9-year-old girl who was born on Sept. 11, 2001. Fourteen others were wounded. Authorities don’t know Loughner’s motive, but said he targeted Giffords at a public gathering around 10 a.m. Saturday.
Doctors treating the lawmaker provided an optimistic update about her chances for survival, saying they are “very, very encouraged” by her ability to respond to simple commands along with their success in controlling her bleeding.
Mourners crammed into the tiny sanctuary of Giffords’ synagogue in Tucson to pray that she quickly recovered. Outside the hospital, candles flickered at a makeshift memorial. Signs read “Peace + love are stronger,” “God bless America and “We love you, Gabrielle.” People also laid down bouquets of flowers, American flags and pictures of Giffords.
One of the victims was Christina Taylor Green, who was a member of the student council at her local school and went to the event because of her interest in government. She is the granddaughter of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green.
She was born on 9/11 and featured in a book called “Faces of Hope” that chronicled one baby from each state born on the day terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people.
Aw, poor kid! Ironic that she should have been born on 9/11. Hopefully this act won’t be associated with 9/11 now like on a subliminal level…
The fact that Christina’s life ended in tragedy was especially tragic to those who knew her. “Tragedy seems to have happened again,” said the author of the book, Christine Naman. “In the form of this awful event.”
Authorities said the dead included Roll; Green; Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman, 30; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; and Phyllis Schneck, 79. Judge Roll had just stopped by to see his friend Giffords after attending Mass.
An unidentified man who authorities earlier said might have acted as an accomplice was cleared Sunday of any involvement. Pima County sheriff’s deputy Jason Ogan told The Associated Press on Sunday that the man was a cab driver who drove the gunman to the grocery store outside of which the shooting occurred.
In one of several YouTube videos, which featured text against a dark background, Loughner described inventing a new U.S. currency and complained about the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords’ congressional district in Arizona.
“I know who’s listening: Government Officials, and the People,” Loughner wrote. “Nearly all the people, who don’t know this accurate information of a new currency, aren’t aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn’t have happen (sic).”
In Loughner’s middle-class neighborhood — about a five-minute drive from the scene — sheriff’s deputies had much of the street blocked off. The neighborhood sits just off a bustling Tucson street and is lined with desert landscaping and palm trees.
Neighbors said Loughner lived with his parents and kept to himself. He was often seen walking his dog, almost always wearing a hooded sweat shirt and listening to his iPod.
Why is the fact that he wore hooded sweatshirts and listened to iPod important? Just curious…I mean, considering that Homeland Security is making a big push to put telescreens in like Wal-Mart and whatnot telling people to report suspicious behavior, is this going to be it now? I am not sure why that stood out to me but I just thought I should comment on it.
The assassination attempt left Americans questioning whether divisive politics had pushed the suspect over the edge.
Really? Or is that what government wants us to start thinking about. That was not what I thought of when I first heard about this taking place. Interesting that it occurred in Arizona where we have already seen intense political debate taking place–mainly about illegal immigration–and I am shocked that this did not happen in the name of that charged issue, but I tell you, that is not what I thought of at all. I’m not so much into conspiracy theories, but that statement of assumption does not sit right with me.
Giffords faced frequent backlash from the right over her support of the health care reform last year, and had her office vandalized the day the House approved the landmark measure.
Dupnik lashed out at what he called an excessively “vitriolic” atmosphere in the months leading up to the rampage as he described the chaos of the day.
The sheriff said the rampage ended only after two people tackled the gunman. A third person intervened and tried to pull a clip away from Loughner as he attempted to reload, the sheriff said.
“He was definitely on a mission,” according to event volunteer Alex Villec, former Giffords intern.
___
Associated Press Writers Jacques Billeaud, Raquel Maria Dillon and Terry Tang contributed to this report.
I hope everyone had an excellent end of 2010 and are ready to hunker down to the New Year full of resolutions, goals, and hope! My apologies for my unplanned personal hiatus–it is a long story–but I am here now and I have my nose back in the news and my opinions are flaring! SO much has happened since the last time I posted and there is so precious little time to catch up!
I hope this new year bring good things to this wonderful country and all that it holds dear!
Well shut my mouth wide open! And this is a government official appointed by Obama no less spouting this racist drivel in the NAACP’s own convention. And this is allowed to take place? Where’s the outcry now? Oh wait, the racist NAACP audience was LAUGHING at her comments! Oh that’s right, because she wasn’t talking about ‘THEIR’ kind’!
Wow–I really always thought racism was dead. All I’ve been seeing and hearing about is racism against white people still being alive.
This is just sick. So they’re just here to work and pick fruit, huh? Coming to enjoy the good life here, is that it? Sure, Americans can and do do this too, but just think, if the border was sealed and under control AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS DOING THEIR JOB BY ENFORCING THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAWS then there would be one less minor raped right now. One less girl who will never, ever be the same…
Horseshoe Bay, TX – Horseshoe Bay Police say a 14-year-old girl was raped by two illegal immigrants at a 4th of July party in south Horseshoe Bay.
The victim told police that she had gone with her cousin to a July 4th party on 39th Street in Horseshoe Bay. The victim’s 23-year-old cousin left her alone in a room with Anibal Escobar, 19, and Anael Martinez, 22. The two Honduran natives made sexual advances toward the teen and had sexual intercourse with her against her will. The victim’s cousin found her in naked in the bath tub. They both left the party and returned home.
The victim told her mother the next day of what had happened and she contacted police to report the sexual assault. The victim was questioned by a forensics interviewer with the Hill Country Advocacy Center in Burnet and the victim relayed the events of the alleged incident with Horseshoe Bay investigators present. Investigators contacted Texas Ranger Jesse Ramos who assisted in the investigation in interviewing the suspects and others present at the residence as none of the group of witnesses or suspects spoke English.
Escobar and Martinez were arrested during the early morning hours of July 9th. They were both charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child Younger than 17, a first degree felony, and transported to the Burnet Detention Facility. Both remain in custody in lieu of magistration and setting of bond.
The investigation is continuing and may result in additional charges. Investigators are in contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in regards to the status of the two suspects who have indicated they are in the country illegally.
My goodness, so much has been happening since I last updated my blog that I’m not sure where to start, but I’m going to go ahead and start with this video that I meant to post a few days ago but I was speechless to make comment on it.
Well, I guess the video speaks for itself. This most likely will not make it into mainstream liberal media, much the way the new black panther video went.
This is jus the most lunatic, insane thing I have ever seen or heard in my entire life. These people are REALLY out of touch with reality!
First point that should be made: if the borders were sealed, this wouldn’t happen. If we enforced our laws and prevented illegal immigrants from getting jobs, housing, welfare, benefits and the like, then THEY WOULD HAVE NO REASON TO COME HERE!!!!!! And what’s worse is that Americans are trying to help them. Okay, I see the point of saving human life and I respect greatly that the Border Patrol took that woman back, but IF WE DIDN’T GIVE THEM INCENTIVE TO COME THEN THEY WOULDN’T COME!!!!!!
Period. End of story.
This is very sad–but preventable.
And also think, 30 illegal immigrants may die, but HOW MANY MAKE IT? Too many apparently.
Immigrant deaths in Arizona desert soaring in July
By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 16, 8:59 pm ET
PHOENIX – The number of deaths among illegal immigrants crossing the Arizona desert from Mexico is soaring so high this month that the medical examiner’s office that handles the bodies is using a refrigerated truck to store some of them, the chief examiner said Friday.
The bodies of 40 illegal immigrants have been brought to the office of Pima County Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Parks since July 1. At that rate, Parks said the deaths could top the single-month record of 68 in July 2005 since his office began tracking them in 2000.
“Right now, at the halfway point of the month, to have so many is just a very bad sign,” he said. “It’s definitely on course to perhaps be the deadliest month of all time.”
From Jan. 1 to July 15, the office has handled the bodies of 134 illegal immigrants, up from 93 at the same time last year and 102 in 2008. In 2007, when the office recorded the highest annual deaths of illegal immigrants, 140 bodies had been taken there through July 15.
Parks said his office, which handles immigrant bodies from three counties, is currently storing roughly 250 bodies and had to start using a refrigerated truck because of the increase in immigrant deaths this month.
He said many of the bodies seem to be coming from the desert southwest of Tucson, where it tends to be hotter than eastern parts of the border or the Tucson metro area.
Authorities believe the high number of deaths are likely due to above-average and unrelenting heat in southern Arizona this month and ongoing tighter border security that pushes immigrants to more remote, rugged and dangerous terrain.
Erik Pytlak, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Tucson’s average nighttime lows in the first 15 days of July are the hottest for that period in recorded history.
If nighttime temperatures don’t cool down enough, the human body doesn’t get a break from the daytime heat, which has hit 109 degrees in recent days in southern Arizona.
“Instead of having one day of a lot of heat, you have day after day after day, and you have a steady stream of people in the desert — people start succumbing, unfortunately,” Pytlak said.
He said if possible thunderstorms materialize over the weekend, that could lower temperatures. But if rain doesn’t fall and there’s cloud cover, the situation could get worse because clouds hold temperatures up at night, he said.
While the bodies that go the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office don’t represent all the deaths on the Arizona border, the Border Patrol also is seeing the effects of the weather.
“It does seem like the heat is really having a pretty significant impact right now,” Agent Colleen Agle said.
Agle did not have statistics for July but said agents have been seeing “quite a few” deaths that appear heat-related.
On Thursday, she said the Border Patrol responded to a call from a husband and wife from Mexico who were experiencing difficulties because of the heat. When agents got there, the 25-year-old man had died; his 22-year-old wife survived and will be taken back to Mexico.
“Unfortunately, (agents) just didn’t get there in time,” she said, adding that finding immigrants in distress is often extremely difficult because of the vast and treacherous terrain. “It’s really sad when this happens. Even one death is too many for us.”
Deaths among immigrants occur despite public service advertisements warning them of the dangers of the desert, and the efforts of humanitarian groups that man aid stations for immigrants in distress and 20 Border Patrol rescue beacons in remote areas of the desert that immigrants can activate if they need help.
Border Patrol statistics for the entire U.S.-Mexico border show that deaths among illegal immigrants peaked at 492 in fiscal year 2005 and declined every year until last fiscal year, when they rose to 422.
The Border Patrol says the agency rescued nearly 1,300 people last fiscal year.
Wow–everyone, three cheers! Bombs are going off across the border, the economy is going to heck, and half the nation doesn’t have any jobs…but the Obamas are going out for ICE CREAM!!!
OOOOOOOH!
*facepalm*
Funny how they mention he went out for ice cream with his family. Were he in Arizona he might have been pulled over by racist cops and asked to show his papers. Problem is, he probably doesn’t have any and would get deported.
OH! That would explain why he doesn’t WANT to go to Arizona!!!!!! Hmmmm…interesting!
Surely it’s not because he doesn’t CARE or because he’s LAZY or because he has BETTER THINGS TO DO THAT THINK ABOUT AND PROTECT OUR COUNTRY!!!!
Nooo. I wouldn’t believe that if you told me. >rolls eyes
Anyway, here’s the article in all it’s pandering glory. Still, WHY IS THIS FRONT PAGE-YAHOO NEWS?
Obamas continue busy Maine holiday
By MARK S. SMITH, Associated Press Writer Mark S. Smith, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jul 17, 6:21 am ET
BAR HARBOR, Maine – The nation’s coastlines have been good to President Barack Obama this week — first with news BP’s gushing oil well is finally capped, then with a family vacation that got off to a spectacular start.
In the first day alone it spanned the tallest mountain peak along the Eastern Seaboard, a bicycle ride beside a pristine lake and an exhilarating boat ride through a wind-whipped bay.
The vacation for Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha continued Saturday with other planned activities centered on Acadia National Park, a 47,000-acre gem that brackets this upscale summer resort.
The weekend was an idyllic punctuation mark at the end of a good week for Obama.
On Thursday, Congress sent him the most sweeping overhaul of financial market rules since the New Deal. Obama plans to sign it next Wednesday.
And Friday, BP confirmed it had closed the valves on the new cap fitted to its Deepwater Horizon well, meaning for the first time in 12 weeks, no oil was flowing into the Gulf. Obama called it welcome news, even though he noted it’s a temporary fix, and even after the well’s cemented shut a massive cleanup remains.
But after speaking to reporters about the spill Friday, Obama left those matters behind, flying to Bar Harbor for a short holiday in this famous summer refuge for the well-heeled and well-known.
Aides said they had prepared a menu activities for the first family to choose from during their stay, which ends Sunday. From the look of things, they checked “all of the above.”
The Obamas began with ride along a secluded park bike trail next to Witch Hole Pond, then motorcaded up a switchback road to the summit of Cadillac Mountain — elevation 1,530 feet — to take in a breathtaking, sun-drenched view of Frenchman Bay.
After a stop for ice cream in Bar Harbor, the Obamas boarded a National Park Service boat for a tour of the bay — only to have it cut short when clouds and fog rolled in, and rain threatened.
But that just made the first family a little early for dinner at a harborside restaurant. A small crowd gathered along the seafront to watch the Obamas’ boat chug up to the dock — the president seated in the stern, one arm around Malia, 12, the other waving at well-wishers snapping pictures on shore.
What is this going to take for anyone to realize that this is a WAR?!!!! You know–bring troops, lay the law down and all that. These aren’t just simple drug cartels, as though they are not worth the effort. These are TERRORISTS! I have said that from the very beginning. I’ve pointed out that this has gotten way out of control. This has been going on since I lived in California, over almost two years ago, and it’s only going to get WORSE!
Which, apparently, it has. And this happened right across the border from Texas!!!!!
This is what the Taliban use. This is what Middle Eastern terrorists do. Next there’ll be suicide bombers.
AND THEY ARE CROSSING OVER HERE TO AMERICA WITHOUT BEING STOPPED!
THEY ARE COMING HERE WITHOUT A PROBLEM–WHAT MAKES ANYONE THINK FOR ONE MINUTE THAT THIS WON’T HAPPEN HERE??????
SEAL THE BORDERS PLEASE, MR PRESIDENT! THIS IS SAD! THIS IS PATHETIC!
And I’m tempted to say, “Don’t these drug cartel guys have anything better to do with themselves that kill people?”
This is wrong on so many levels! Mexico needs to get their act together. We can send troops to two countries overseas thousands of miles away, but we can’t send them to our borders to PROTECT AMERICA!!!!??????
This, to me, sounds more eminent and important. I’m not bashing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by any means, I’m just pointing out that we need to also be thinking about the home front. When this starts happening here, and I’m sure it will, is Obama going to protect us? Doubt it.
These people need to be stopped!
Car bomb signals new dimension to Mexican drug war
AP – The remains of a vehicle are cordoned off in a street in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, …
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL and E. EDUARDO CASTILLO, Associated Press Writers Alicia A. Caldwell And E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press Writers – Sat Jul 17, 2:29 am ET
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – A drug cartel has used a car bomb for the first time in Mexico’s decades-long fight against traffickers, setting a deadly trap against federal police in a city across the border from Texas, the mayor of Ciudad Juarez said Friday.
Mayor Jose Reyes said federal police have confirmed to him that a car bomb was used in the attack that killed three people Thursday.
It was the first time a drug cartel has used a bomb to attack Mexican security forces, marking an escalation in a raging drug war that already is extremely deadly: On Friday alone, a dozen people were killed and 21 wounded in a series of gun battles between soldiers and cartel gunmen in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, the federal Interior Department said.
In Thursday’s bombing, federal police and paramedics were lured to the scene by a phone call reporting that shots were fired at a major intersection and a municipal police officer lay wounded, Reyes told The Associated Press.
As the paramedics were working on the wounded man, a parked car exploded, he said.
Reyes said authorities later determined that the wounded man was not a policeman, although he was wearing a fake uniform. The man was among the three people who died in the attack. The others were a federal police officer and a medical technician.
Brig. Gen. Eduardo Zarate, the commander of the regional military zone, told reporters that up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of explosives might have been used, although investigators were still trying to determine what type.
He said the bomb might have been detonated remotely with a cell phone, adding that burned batteries connecting to a mobile phone were found at the scene.
“From what distance? We don’t know. But we think it was a distance that allowed (the assailants) to watch the area, waiting for the police to get out of their vehicle,” Zarate said.
The car bomb demonstrates the growing boldness and military sophistication of Mexico’s drug traffickers, who have dramatically stepped up attacks against security forces and government officials since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of troops and federal police to crush the cartels in their strongholds.
“We have to change the way we operate,” Reyes said. “We’ve started changing all our protocols, to include bomb situations.”
City and federal authorities said the attack appeared to target only security forces.
“The threat was directed at the police departments, so it is not a threat against the population,” he added. “But we have to be very careful with our police departments, their actions and how we protect them, and of course, how we protect the population from the fallout.”
A graffiti message appeared on a wall of a Ciudad Juarez shopping mall Thursday night warning of more car bombs.
In Nuevo Laredo, meanwhile, the shootouts in at least three points of the city prompted the U.S. Consulate to warn American citizens in the city to remain indoors. The Consulate said gunmen were blocking some streets with hijacked vehicles at the height of the battles.
“We have received credible reports of widespread violence occurring now between narcotics trafficking organizations and the Mexican Army in Nuevo Laredo. We have credible reports of grenades being used,” the Consulate said in a statement. “We advise all U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo to remain indoors until the security situation improves.”
The Mexican Interior Department said it “energetically condemned the cowardly acts.”
Seven of the 21 wounded were listed in serious condition, and three of the seriously wounded were children apparently caught in the crossfire, the Interior Department said in a statement.
The dead included nine suspected gunmen, two civilians and one soldier. Nuevo Laredo has been the scene of vicious turf battles between the Gulf cartel and their former allies, the Zetas drug gang.
Army officials reached by phone in Nuevo Laredo declined to comment.
Roadblocks have been another tactic to recently emerge in Mexico’s drug war. Gangs in the neighboring northeastern states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, where Nuevo Laredo is located, have thrown up the blockades to impede soldiers from coming to the aid of colleagues under attack.
Drug gangs have previously attacked Mexican soldiers and police with grenades and powerful rifles, and there had long been fears they might turn to bombings. Soldiers have seized homemade explosives from gang vehicles after gunbattles, and assailants have stolen explosive material from transport vehicles.
Federal police said the bombing attack was in retaliation for the arrest of a top leader of the La Linea drug gang, Jesus Acosta Guerrero, earlier in the day.
Police said Acosta Guerrero, 35, was the “operations leader” of La Linea, which works for the Juarez drug cartel. He was responsible for at least 25 killings, mainly of rival gang members, and also ordered attacks on police, a federal police statement said.
The Juarez cartel appeared to claim credit for the attack in the graffiti message, which accused federal police of supporting the rival Sinaloa cartel, led by Mexico’s most-wanted kingpin, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“What happened … is going to keep happening against all the authorities that keep supporting ‘El Chapo,'” the message read. “We have more car bombs.”
Calderon’s government has long faced allegations that his government does not pursue the Sinaloa cartel as aggressively as other gangs, accusations he vehemently denies.
Oh snap! Even the mainstream media is bringing this sordid detail up. I NEVER expected to see that!!!
Sorry compadre, you got busted!
The question is though–what will America do about it? Probably nothing. Obama will just continue to kiss Calderon’s feet and roll over like a puppy to have his tummy scratched, completely ignoring the facts and the problems. All the two of them talk about is why Arizona isn’t allowing un-hindered illegal immigration up through its deserts.
GEEEEEEE! I WONDER WHY?!!!! >rolls eyes
What appeared to be the charred bottom half of the explosives-rigged car still lay at the scene of the attack Friday. The debris from the blast was spread out over a 300-yard (300-meter) radius. The explosion also blew out the windows of a nearby home and blackened the corner of the building nearest to the crash.
“Thank God we weren’t home,” said a woman who lives in the damaged house. She refused to give her name, citing safety concerns, before driving away from the scene Thursday.
Although the car bomb was a new tactic, it was far from the deadliest attack on Mexico’s security forces. Last month, a carefully planned ambush killed 12 federal police officers in the western state of Michoacan.
And a week before July 4 local and state elections, suspected cartel members ambushed and killed the leading candidate for governor of Tamaulipas. Calderon called the assassination — which followed a series of attacks and threats against candidates throughout the campaign — evidence that drug cartels were trying to control Mexican politics through intimidation.
Federal Attorney General Arturo Chavez said he could not confirm if the latest attack involved a car bomb and said investigators were running forensic tests to determine if the assailants packed the car with explosive material or launched grenades.
Chavez said the killings did not qualify as terrorism.
“We have no evidence anywhere in the country of narco-terrorism,” he said.
The attorney general says at least 24,800 people have been killed in drug-gang violence since Calderon launched his military-led offensive in 2006.
Ciudad Juarez has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with more than 4,000 people killed since the beginning of 2009. Reyes said at least 14 police officers have been killed in the city and surrounding areas in recent weeks.
Brave Maricopa County, CA and Sheriff Arpaio!!!!!!!! My hat goes off to you!!!!!
Here’s the article:
Arpaio launches 16th immigration sweep in desert
Posted: Thursday, July 15, 2010 4:29 pm |
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office launched its 16th crime and immigration sweep Thursday in a stretch of desert in the southwestern portion of the county.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the one-day sweep was prompted by reports of many drug and immigrant smugglers moving through the Vekol Valley.
Since early 2008, Arpaio has launched patrols that seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders, such as people accused of human smuggling.
Critics say officers racially profile Latinos in the patrols. Arpaio denies the allegations, saying people pulled over in the sweeps are approached because deputies have probable cause to believe they committed crimes.
By PAULINE ARRILLAGA and AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Pauline Arrillaga And Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press – 58 mins ago
While You Were Asleep . . . 