Nunez’ threatened on April 24th, “I want to personally blow Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s head off.” During an interview with Sheriff’s deputies, Nunez admitted to the threat saying he was driven to write it because of the illegal
immigration rhetoric surrounding Arpaio.
Arpaio has won many enemies and fans due to his self-promoting antics and reputation as the country’s “toughest sheriff.”
Earlier this year, Scottsdale resident Ignacio Carbajol was arrested by Sheriff’s deputies on February 25, 2013, for a threat made in January of this year. Carbajol admitted to detectives that the death threats he made against the Sheriff were because Arpaio’s stance on illegal immigration drove him to want to kill the sheriff. Carbajol’s threat read, “He should see the color of his skin and where he comes from…stupid (expletive)…let’s kill him. I will kill him for free. I am going to Arizona to kill that (expletive).”
Recently, a mail bomb addressed to Arpaio was intercepted by alert postal workers in Flagstaff, Arizona on April 12, 2013. A federal investigation into this situation is on-going.
In 2012, a Tennessee man, Adam Eugene Cox, was arrested due to a death threat against Sheriff Arpaio. The Cox arrest followed an investigation by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies and Knoxville, Tennessee authorities.