Trump’s first pardon spares political ally Arpaio

PHOENIX: President Donald Trump spared former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio the prospect of serving jail time in granting the first pardon of his turbulent tenure, wiping away the lawman’s recent federal conviction stemming from his immigration patrols that focused on Latinos.

The White House said 85-yearold Arpaio was a “worthy candidate” for the pardon, citing his “life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration.” Trump granted the pardon less than a month after a judge found Arpaio guilty of a misdemeanour contempt-of-court charge in a trial was prosecuted by the president’s own justice department.

“I appreciate what the president did,” Arpaio told AP as he celebrated the news over an Italian restaurant meal and someone in his party ordered champagne. “I have to put it out there: Pardon, no pardon — I’ll be with him as long as he’s president.”

The pardon drew a swift and harsh denunciation from an array of Latinos and political leaders, who said it amounted to presidential approval of racism by eliminating the conviction of a law officer who had used immigration patrols to racially profile Latinos. And it overturned a longawaited comeuppance for a lawman who long escaped accountability for his use of headline-grabbing tactics as sheriff in Phoenix.