Press Releases

Statement By Rev. Al Sharpton & National Action Network Regarding the Department of Justice Findings On Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio & The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Thursday, December 15, 2011 (New York, NY) – Rev. Al Sharpton and National Action Network (NAN) applaud the United States Justice Department for investigating the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, thus affirming NAN’s multi-year protests against the Sheriff’s continual engagement in “unconstitutional policing,” by unfairly targeting Latinos for detentions and arrests as well as retaliating against those who complain. National Action Network has led efforts to protest the racial profiling tactics practiced by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and, according to Rev. Sharpton, “The Decision by the Justice Department vindicates the rallies and marches we led in Arizona and the microscope NAN and other civil rights groups focused upon the unconstitutional tactics by the Maricopa Sheriff’s office where there has been a pervasive culture of discrimination.” Voicing what NAN has said for some time, the U.S. Justice Department said the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office “unlawfully” goes after political opponents, pulls over Hispanic drivers four to nine times more often than whites, and sometimes mistreats Hispanic inmates. The Maricopa Sheriff’s office racially profiles individuals in traffic stops and crime sweeps as its standard practice. We salute the Justice Department for its findings.

Reverend Al Sharpton & National Action Network