A 27-year old Peoria man has been arrested for threatening the life of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Maricopa County detectives arrested Frederick Joseph Cusick, at his home in Peoria, Arizona.
Cusick was charged on July 8, 2013. Cusick is the third suspect this year that has been investigated and charged for threatening to kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Sheriff’s investigators and FBI officials were contacted in June by a concerned citizen who saw a YouTube comment where the poster, later identified as Cusick, indicated that he would target Arpaio to qualify for a “$2 million bounty” to be paid by a Mexican drug cartel for the murder of the Sheriff.
Between 2007 and 2013, a number of drug cartels based in Mexico have reportedly targeted the Sheriff for execution. Supposed bounties mentioned in these cases have been as high as $3 million.
Cusick ranted in his Youtube post that Arpaio was a racist and that Cusick and his “boys” had an arsenal of “powerful weapons” to ensure that Sheriff Arpaio “wouldn’t be around much longer.”
During the investigation of Cusick, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brian Mackiewicz, discovered that the suspect made several threats against the life of Sheriff Arpaio. After his arrest, Cusick admitted to previously owning a firearm which he claims to have sold following a prior arrest by law enforcement officials. Mackiewicz conducted a search of Cusick’s home and did not find a firearm.
Cusick is currently being held in the Lower Buckeye Jail on a $3600.00 bond.
As noted, Cusick is the third suspect charged this year for making threats against Sheriff Arpaio.
On June 17, 2013, an arrest warrant was issued for Caesar David Nunez, 22, of Culver City, California, for threatening to kill Sheriff Arpaio. Nunez’ threat of April 24th read, “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.
On February 25, 2013, Scottsdale resident Ignacio Carbajol was arrested by Sheriff’s deputies for a threat made in January of this year against Sheriff Arpaio. Carbajol admitted to detectives that the death threats he made 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 motherfucker…let’s kill him. I will kill him for free. I am going to Arizona to kill that asshole.”
“Unfortunately, there is an increasing number of people that appear to have dangerous ideas planted in their heads,” said Mackiewicz. “The issue of illegal immigration seems to be the common thread among our most recent investigations involving threats against Sheriff Arpaio.”
Another threat this year was the mail bomb addressed to Arpaio that was intercepted by alert postal workers in Flagstaff, Arizona, on April 12, 2013. A federal investigation into this situation is on-going.