Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio dismissed Rep. Raul Grijalva’s calls for his resignation, saying that Grijalva just doesn’t like Arpaio’s immigration policies, and he is the one who should resign.
In a press conference Monday, Arpaio addressed allegations by current and former law enforcement officials that he botched over 400 sex crime cases, including child molestations, a number of which were brought forward by illegal immigrants.
Arpaio said that his office took immediate action when it learned about the discrepancies in the cases that were investigated, according to tweets by Arizona Republic reporter Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, who was at the press conference. He added that they consider these investigations “serious.”
Arpaio said that there could be disciplinary actions to come out of an internal investigation, which he said should be finished soon, possibly this week.
His second in command, Jerry Sheridan, said that they re-investigated 428 of the 432 cases that were deemed improperly investigated, and made 19 arrests. 224 cases were closed, he added.
Earlier Monday, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) called on Arpaio to resign, following the AP story that quoted former and current officials blaming Arpaio for failing to investigate these cases. But Arpaio was unfazed, instead saying that Grijalva just doesn’t like his stance on immigration, and he is the one who should resign.
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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