Forbes's JJ MacNab: Arpaio pardon esp harmful because Arpaio is a "constitutional sheriff"

[highplainsdem]

Part of the anti-government extremist movement.

MacNab writes about these extremists for Forbes. Her Twitter thread starts here:

Link to tweet

The pardon of Joe Arpaio is wrong. The guy violated the 4th Amend repeatedly & shat on our judicial system. But there's another problem. 1/

Arpaio is a very well known "Constitutional Sheriff," a subgroup to the overall Anti-Government Extremist (A.G.E.) movement. 2/

He's a name in the world that spawned Bundy militias, the recent bombing attempt in OK City, McVeigh, the militants in Charlottesville, etc.

Trump invited two "Constitutional Sheriffs" to speak at the Repub Natl Convention: Arpaio and Sheriff Clarke. 4/

While the press focused on Trump's white supremacy dog whistles, he was using a bullhorn to attract a much larger & more dangerous group. 5/

Earlier this week, a fed jury couldn't convict 4 Bundy militants who committed their crimes on camera & bragged about it on social media. 6/

To be honest, I was relieved at the verdict. There's a good chance Trump is going to pardon the Bundy men and their supporters. 7/

Last night, Arpaio thanked Roger Stone for influencing Trump on his behalf. 8/

Stone has been working on a similar pardon deal for the Bundy standoff participants.

A jury verdict exonerating people who aimed guns at federal employees is bad in that it invigorates their violent efforts. /10

A Presidential pardon is far worse. It tells these guys that it's their patriotic duty to ignore the courts & enforce laws at gunpoint. /11

And if you've been reading my Twitter feed for any time, you've seen just how bizarre the legal beliefs of the A.G.E. movement are. /12

For ex, many AGE members believe that Obama is a Kenyan who has committed treason & should be killed. /13

Another ex, they believe that the Sheriff is the highest law enforcement officer in the land because he's elected. /14

Roughly 140 out 3,200 county sheriffs have fallen for this A.G.E. myth which puts those sheriffs who haven't at risk of being killed. /15

As I've written in other threads, these extremists tend to be very pro-law enforcement as longs as the cops are doing what they want. /16

When cops don't do what they want, it's considered a treasonous violat'n of the cop's oath of office, the punishment for which is death. /17

By pardoning Arpaio, this is the dark underbelly that Trump is telling to rise up. /18

[dalton99a]

1. This is an important point

[KT2000]

2. the Bundy verdict

also puts the lives of all public employees on the line.
Due in large part to the constitution idiots, certain state buildings that have offices that deal with the public (Washington) now have full time state patrol guarding. They have had to step in to protect workers from the abuse heaped upon them by these nuts.

This post is right - there is a larger constituency following trump than we realize and they are dangerous.

[Duppers]

3. OMFG, she's right.

But we still outnumber them.
Let's grab our signs and hats and again take to the streets.

[highplainsdem]

4. kick