Obama Gives Sheriff Joe a Federal Ultimatum (KTAR news)

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has stood up to an ultimatum handed down by the federal government.

According to a press release from his office, Arpaio was told by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division that his agency would be required to have an outside monitor in place or there would be no point to holding meetings concerning alleged racial profiling by MCSO.

The release stated that, generally, the use of an outside monitor of an agency such as MCSO would remove power from the elected sheriff and give control to a person or group selected by the federal government. Essentially, Arpaio claims that the use of an outside monitor would be tantamount to allowing the federal government to control the county's sheriff office and would nullify the will of the people of Maricopa County and Arpaio's elected office.

"I am the constitutionally and legitimately elected Sheriff and I absolutely refuse to surrender my responsibility to the federal government," said Arpaio in the release. "And so to the Obama administration, who is attempting to strong arm me into submission only for its political gain, I say, ‘This will not happen, not on my watch!'"

Sheriff's Deputy Director and Attorney Jack MacIntyre said that a federal monitor is an extreme idea and that the federal government has failed to produce any evidence that would show Arpaio's office committed racial profiling.

"We have never agreed to a monitor replacing the duly elected Sheriff," said MacIntyre in the release. "We have always been open to negotiating these issues raised by the DOJ, but never the appointment of a monitor."

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Shaun Attwood

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