A Canadian teenager who has spent the past year emailing numerous threats to murder Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his family again has been released by the Canadian court system and that is making the Sheriff angry despite the fact that the teen has not made a recent threat.
The 16-year-old teen from Alberta, Canada has made seven (7) violent threats against Arpaio stating his intention to murder not only the Sheriff but the Sheriff’s family as well. The teen has described in graphic detail how he would use guns, bombs and knives to kill them all.
The e-mailed declarations have resulted in the teen’s arrest on numerous occasions. One judge placed the suspect into a mandatory psychiatric hospital stay. Another has placed him on probation. He is currently on home detention and his access to the internet has supposedly been suspended.
Arpaio appears to want the teen to have limited civil rights. He is objecting to the fact that the Canadian court system releases the teen. Arpaio claims that the teen’s release places the Sheriff, his family and perhaps others as well at risk.
Arpaio says he is perturbed by the fact that the Canadian justice system cannot find a more effective way to deal with someone who repeatedly promises to murder the Sheriff and his family.
“To act as if these threats are meaningless is foolish. Threats very often lead to not only violence, but sometimes mass murder.
I’m worried about my family, of course, but I’m concerned about what could occur in Canada. What will Canadian authorities say when this young man, who fits the profile of so many who have killed, picks up a gun in his hometown and starts shooting?” Arpaio says.
Sheriff Arpaio says he directs his office to issue a press release each time the young man threatens the Sheriff or his family as a way to impel the Canadian justice system to deal with the situation with the urgency it deserves.
“We are concerned that this individual has the intention to act on his violent threats,” said Maricopa County Sheriff’s Detective Brian Mackiewicz who has assisted the Royal Canadian Police in their investigation. “It’s not at all difficult to get to Phoenix from Canada, and today’s talk can easily translate into tomorrow’s action.”
The suspect’s next court date is on June 12, 2014, according to Detective Mackiewicz. For his part, the Sheriff says he is certainly willing to testify if it would help to ensure the suspect remain incarcerated or at least confined indefinitely to a mental institution.