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President Donald Trump just pardoned controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The man, known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” was charged with misdemeanor contempt of court in 2016. President Trump pardoned him Friday night, commending his service as a part of the military and law enforcement community. On January 9, 2018, Arpaio announced that he will be running for Senate later that year, looking to fill the seat being vacated by Republican Senator Jeff Flake.
Arpaio was elected Sheriff of Maricopa County in 1992 and remained in that role until January 1, 2017. Joe previously had a litany of conduct complaints and allegations, including abuse of power; misuse of funds; failure to investigate sex crimes; improper clearance of cases; unlawful enforcement of immigration laws; and election law violations.
Want to know more about Joe the man? Look below to see his most well-known quotes…
Joe Arpaio Quotes: Best Quotes & Most-Famous Sayings
“I’m an equal-opportunity law-enforcement guy – I lock everybody up.”
“Everything I did in the jails – chain gangs, everything – I haven’t changed the policy. I did it, I stand by it, and I’m not going to change.”
“I don’t bow down to the federal government.”
“I get a lot of calls from families and people who have served time and they say, ‘Thank you, Sheriff. I hate the tents.’ That’s music to my ears.”
“I would hope to get together with the Latino community, if I could ever have them talk to me without screaming and threatening me. So I hope to get together with the community and try to explain what we do, so that’s going to be one of my missions coming up.”
“When we go to court, they are going to have to come up with all the evidence where they are accusing me and my dedicated deputies of racial profiling. It’s always easy to throw the race card in there and that’s what they’re doing in Washington today, that they’re concerned about racial profiling.”
“I needed a place to put the dogs. The prisoners ruined the jail, so I put the prisoners in the tents and I had a nice place to put the dogs. We treat the cats nice too, and horses. I have the inmates take care of the animals. It’s therapy too, you see.”
“I want to go to Mexico. I’ve been stonewalled, so far, by federal officials. I want to go to Mexico, and I want to meet with the top Mexican officials. I want to tell them my past experience and what I can do here as Sheriff to help them get better intelligence and communications on the drug thing, not the illegal immigration thing.”
“I will continue to enforce all the laws, including illegal immigration. Nothing changes.”
“I have the compassion, I’ve told you people that over and over again. Enforce the law overrides my compassion.”
“I’m the elected sheriff, and I’m going to keep doing what the Constitution says I can do.”
“Some people call me a publicity hound.”
“We learn by our problems. We correct our deficiencies if there are any.”
“A ‘liberal paradise’ would be a place where everybody has guarenteed employment, free comprehensive health care, free education, free food, free housing, free clothing, free utilities and only law enforcement personnel have guns. And believe it or not, such a liberal utopia does indeed exist…. It’s called prison.”
