Racist Sheriff Arpaio greeted by angry, militant protest

Loud shouts of “Racists go home!” greeted Arizona’s Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, and his cronies as he entered the Marriott Hotel for an event to promote his new book, “Joe’s Law.” Hundreds militantly protested outside for hours, despite a large Houston police presence and a counterprotest by U.S. Border Watch.

Inside, the event was disrupted by four protesters, one of whom paid the $30 entrance fee and stood in line to get Arpaio’s autograph. When she got to the front of the line, Liliana, a Colombian immigrant, handed Arpaio a certificate and loudly proclaimed, “I am here to present to you the Bull Connor Award for your promotion of racial discrimination, disregard of human rights, abuse of power and general hatred of the ‘other.’ You are a racist and a criminal!” Connor was the infamous Alabama police commissioner and Ku Klux Klan member who used attack dogs and fire hoses on African Americans in the 1960s.