Joe Arpaio shakes down his flock

[marmar]

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a vile creature. The 83-year-old has reigned over the Arizona county for more than twenty years, much to the dismay of the Hispanic community, and he’s running for office again. But, the way he is soliciting donations from his scared, xenophobic supporters this time around is absolutely infuriating.

In an email sent out to supporters recently, America’s Most Racist Sheriff extorts money from his ignorant voters by threatening to retire. The email’s subject line is:”Announcement: I’ve made a difficult decision” and begins by calling on his “patriots” to support him or else:

“After hours of prayer, and countless frank discussions with my wife Ava and other trusted advisors, I have decided my time as Sheriff is over, unless I can count on you to stand with me this election.”

Arpaio then goes on to blame “left-wing elites,” his immigration stance, “Obama’s political machine,” and “Hollywood leftists” for the tough road he has ahead of him should he decide to run for re-election. He tells his supporters that they need to empty their wallets and help him defeat the scary liberals who want to see him out of office:

“For some of you $5 is all you can spare today. But for others $500 or even $1,000 is a sacrificial gift you are willing to make. My team has told me that because our reserves are almost completely drained I will need to raise at least 5 million dollars to have a fighting chance, so every single dollar helps.”

To be clear, this is absolutely, 100 percent extortion. The definition of which is “the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.” He is threatening that he will retire and not bother to run again unless his faithful, immigrant-hating supporters shell out money for him. He doesn’t just tell them he’d like to be their sheriff again, he threatens them. And this isn’t the first time he has duped voters. ...............(more)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/01/20/racist-joe-arpaio-extorts-money-for-re-election-by-threatening-to-retire-screenshots/

[malthaussen]

1. He's not duping voters.

He's saying exactly what he means.

-- Mal

[el_bryanto]

2. That seems like a stretch of the word extortion

I mean I certainly think Joe Arpario is an asshole; but I don't know that threatening to retire if you can't get enough money to run counts as extortion. Otherwise most negotiation would have to be considered extortion. "I'm willing to pay $500 for that." "Sorry, I can't let you have for less that $750." "So you are threatening to deny me that object unless i pay an additional $250? That's extortion."

I think we'd be on better ground if he threatened to curtail law enforcement activities in advance of the election unless he were rewarded; that would be clear misconduct.

Bryant

[DetlefK]

3. That doesn't sound like extortion to me.

"Gimme money for my campaign or I won't run!"

Yeah, sure. You won't try to cling to the position of power you have had for 20 years.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. The Guy is doing his thing.

He just asked the White People if you want to keep a segregated County just let me know,and,I will be Guy.