Sheriff Clarence Dupnik upped the ante on Tuesday night when he said that American is the Mecca of hate and bigotry. In a Sheriff’s forum on Arizona Public Media with candidates, Mark Napier and David Crouteau, Dupnik indicted the country in response to a question about comments he made almost immediately after the January 8, 2011 shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Round Table moderator, Andrea Kelly, asked the current Pima County Sheriff about his unfounded comment at a news conference, “that evidence suggests one suspect — 22-year-old Jared Loughner, who is already in custody — likely did not act alone, and “unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
While condemning the vitriol from the right, the Sheriff ramped up the vitriol from the left. According to the Huffington Post, when asked by a reporter if Giffords being shot could have been motivated by “prejudice and bigotry,” Dupnik responded, “All I can tell you is that there’s reason to believe that this individual may have a mental issue. And I think that people who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol.”
With a broad smile on his face on Tuesday night, Dupnik continued the vitriolic attack, “One of the good things about sheriffs is that they can speak their minds. I have spoken my mind on many issues. When it comes to racism and bigotry I didn’t just say Southern Arizona, I said all of Arizona, and eventually I said all of America, and I think that is really true.”
Dupnik is facing a challenger in this year’s Sheriff’s race from Mark Napier. Napier who won the endorsement of the largest conservative Latino organization in Arizona, ALRA, said of Dupnik’s comment, “The Sheriff is unrepentant in his belief that it is his role to make political comments as the Sheriff, this apparently even at a time of unimaginable tragedy for our community. He stated that Sheriffs get to speak their minds, while Chiefs of Police do not. There is some measure of truth to the fact Sheriffs have more freedom to engage the media and actively address issues. This does not mean that any Sheriff is free to espouse irresponsible political rhetoric during a law enforcement briefing for an incident that has national significance. With the freedom to speak out on issues comes commensurate responsibility to do so in a manner that brings credit, rather than discredit, to our community. As Sheriff, you need to understand the separation of politics and public safety.”
Pat Sexton, President of the Tucson Chapter of the Arizona Latino Republican Association issued the following statement:
If given the chance, I would speak to him directly and say the following:
Mr. Dupnik, I am a Latina, with brown eyes, dark brown hair and olive skin. I came to this amazing Country LEGALLY at a very young age, and I earned my citizenship. Finishing elementary, junior and senior high school in the public school system of a mid-western city that had zero foreigners before my sisters and I arrived, I can tell you that none of us were EVER treated any differently than anyone else simply because we were foreigners and originally spoke only Spanish. No one EVER looked at my skin color, my eye color, my hair color or even heard my mother’s accent and EVER mistreated or harassed me. No one EVER told me I could not go to any college or university that I desired because of my father’s last name (Jewish) or my mother’s maiden name (Hispanic) EVER. No one EVER stopped me on the street as I walked, or when I drove simply because of what I looked like and demanded I prove who I was, EVER. No one EVER denied me, as I was growing up, the opportunity go anywhere, sit with anyone or eat at any establishment because of my religion. I moved to Tucson in 1990, and since then, I have never, EVER been stopped by anyone in law enforcement or otherwise simply for being a certain ethnicity or race, EVER. Here in Southern Arizona, or for that matter, anywhere in Arizona, no one has EVER looked at me and said, “You are the wrong color, or the wrong religion, or have the wrong last name.”
The United States of America is an exceptional Nation that has ALWAYS given my family and me every opportunity we ever wanted to avail ourselves of; all we ever had to do was work hard and we were able to achieve our goals. I now have lived in the United States of America, and in Southern Arizona, specifically, for many years and have seen the greatness and generosity of her people. The United States of America is great because we CAN have differences of opinions, ideas, policies and politics, discuss them, debate them, stand on a street corner and advertise or speak out loud about them, and win, lose or draw on those arguments, and at the end of the day, we can go home, have dinner, sleep peacefully, get up the next day and do it all over again. Few if any other places, countries or societies in the world afford their people these same freedoms, privileges and opportunities.
I felt blessed and so grateful that I had never experienced being judged by someone without reason. That is up until now. Now, Mr. Dupnik, YOU, with your liberal, progressive political persuasion AND PREJUDICES, have judged me and called me ugly names because my color, ethnicity, my religious beliefs, AND my skin color are wrong to you. Why? Simply because I happen to disagree with you politically on pretty much about everything. By claiming that Arizona and all of the United States is racist and bigoted, you just did to me the very things you accuse others of doing; you, sir, have judged me wrongly, blindly and unfairly. This had NEVER, EVER happened to me before.
With your ugly, disgusting accusations and your smug, condescending attitude, Mr. Dupnik, you truly reveal your guiding beliefs and character. This time, your words are beyond disgusting and infuriating. They are a clarion call to all who heard them that you are no longer fit or worthy to be Sheriff of Pima County.
Soy una estadounidense orgullosa y agradecida. I am a proud and grateful American.”
One Tucson resident called Dupnik’s comments “despicable. Not only is Dupnik irresponsible, he is out of touch. One of the things that draws tens of thousands of immigrants to our country is its commitment to equality and Dr. Martin Luther’s dream of a color blind society. Dupnik may judge people by the color of their skin because he doesn’t want anyone to judge him by the content of his character because he has shown that he has no character.”