Arizona group begins the process to recall Sheriff Dupnik
According to this article there is an anti-illegal immigration group which is now beginning to start the process to recall Sheriff Dupnik after his despicable press conference in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting. You remember Sheriff Dupnik; he is the Sheriff who ignited the fire against Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk radio, and the blogoshere by blaming all of the above for the shooting instead of blaming the murderer. He did this by giving an inflammatory opinion in which he called Arizona the “mecca for prejudice and bigotry” while he was supposed to be briefing the press on the known FACTS of the Arizona shooting.
“I haven’t been a fan of Dupnik’s for a long time, but this really was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Tom Rompel, co-owner of Black Weapons Armory in Tucson. “He’s law enforcement. We expect ‘the facts, ma’am,’ not his opinion. He leans far left, always has, and frankly, people have had enough”
That is the crux of this issue; he was supposed to be stating the facts not his personal opinion. By expressing his opinion during the press conference, Sheriff Dupnik was irresponsible and unprofessional and for this he MUST face punishment. But not everyone feels this way, as can be seen on a Facebook page which supports Sheriff Dupnik:
He is not afraid to call the bullies out on their part in this mess. Civility without hate speech is our mission
“Civility without hate speech” is what this group claims is their mission and yet they support the man who called the residents of Arizona a bunch of prejudiced bigots who are responsible for the shooting. This is not hate speech? This is civility? Sheriff Dupnik engaged in an activity unbecoming of the office he holds and for that he needs to be accountable.
Sheriff Dupnik indicted a whole group of people simple because he did not agree with the politics of the people he libeled; this man is supposed to stand for justice yet he went in front of the nation and accused certain people of creating a climate of hate which led to the shooting and he did this without any proof whatsoever. He should have kept his opinions to himself, doubly so now that it has become apparent that Jared Loughner had no connection to conservative talk radio or the blogoshere and simply was a lunatic who didn’t even listen to talk radio.
Sheriff Dupnik should do the honorable thing and resign his position because he is not able to discern between facts and reality and when you are a law enforcement official this can have deadly results–but if he is unwilling to do so, perhaps the residents of Pima County will do it for him.
America's Watchtower 
Good. Arizona doesn’t put up with this anymore. If anyone can get him booted out, they can.
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Elected 8 times-there must either be people that share his delusions, or those that just mark the familiar name on the ballot. Nice to see somebody standing up to him though.
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I am afraid that they must agree with this man, why else would be keep getting elected. Maybe this will finally push them over the edge.
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Sounds like someone wants to punish him for exercising some of those First Amendment rights we keep hearing about.
I haven’t heard much about the quality of his work as a sheriff, though, but if what rjjrdq says is right and he’s been re-elected 8 times, he must be doing something right.
But prudent voters should keep an eye on this – it’s the right of the people to recall elected officials in those states that have recall, but to do so on the basis of statements of opinion made at a press conference which were neither libelous nor defamatory isn’t really the American way, it’s the bully’s way. (“Say what we don’t want you to say, and we’ll take your job away.”) He broke no laws and violated no oath in giving his opinion.
Anyway, it’s their call, not ours. This is very similar to the situation we’re facing here in Cherokee County, GA, where a group headquartered in Washington, DC (not the gubmint) is trying to tell us where to hold out high school graduations. It’s our decision, not theirs.
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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TGY, this is far beyond Dupe-nik throwing out insults at people he disagrees with.
Mark Levin, who, if you will recall, is a lawyer who worked under US Attorney General Ed Meese during the Reagan Administration, has said that the man has endangered the prosecution case against Loughner.
Levin says that the biggest drawback to putting law enforcement officers on the stand is that if the defense can even INSINUATE that the LEO was blinkered by any kind of agenda, their testimony can be compromised. That was precisely what the OJ defense did. Dupe-nik’s big problem is that he was not only blinkered by an agenda, he told the entire world he was.
As the leader of the original investigation team, the sheriff could very easily hand Loughner an acquittal by mishandling the investigation.
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A very good point, I also read somewhere that a former justice told him to shut up before he destroyed the case against Loughner. This is more than just a simple matter of free speech.
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This goes beyond free speech because he was on offical duty when he made his comments and he was holding a presser to report the FACTS in the case, this was not the place for personal opinion. He was way out of line with these comments and if the voters feels the same way that I do then he should be removed. If they don’t, that is up to them and I will respect their wishes even though I disagree.
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Why does everyone think the first amendment applies to every situation in America. If you call your boss a flaming prick, he can fire you, it has nothing to do with the first amendment. The first amendment only restricts what the government can do about your speech, as in, throw you in prison for saying something, it has almost nothing to say about what private citizens can say to one another – but somehow, I feel most people know this, but prefer obtuseness to suit their arguments.
No one is calling for Dupnik to be thrown in jail, they just want to throw him out of office – go figure, some people don’t like it. Amazingly, the same people who claim he has a right to say what he wants (which he does, remember no one is saying he should be jailed) are also the same people who believe what he said was true, which is basically the First Amendment only applies if you like what Dupnik has to say, otherwise your speech forces psychos to go on killing sprees. Nice double-standard.
As far as recalling him, hell yes! And in regards to him being elected 8 times, there can be any number of reasons he keeps getting re-elected. If I had to guess, it would probably stem from the local elections not falling on the same date as the state and federal elections, so it is not a high-profile election, not many people vote, and he is getting elected under the radar. I have no idea who my country sheriff is, or when he was elected or when the freaking elections even occur – it is not publicized in any way, and the electioneering process is most definitely low-profile.
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Excellent points!
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I’m quite aware of the difference between government and private action, and if anyone interpreted my remarks as suggesting that the sheriff’s 1st Amendment rights were being violated, I apologize for being unclear. Conservatives on Fire accurately lays out the facts: the sheriff spoke his mind – an exercise of his First Amendment rights – and some voters in his county want to punish him for it – an exercise of their First Amendment rights. It’s not government action, it’s intolerance for differing points of view.
I’m wondering, though, who said that the exercise of 1st Amendment rights forces psychos to go on killing sprees.
As for Levin . . . well, just because someone with a law degree says something doesn’t make it so.
Take good care, and may God bless us all!
TGY
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Dupnik has the right to speak freely. The voters have a right not to like what he says and to decide they no longer want him as their sheriff. No one is violating anybodies right to free speech.
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Correct!
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Let’s hope he is recalled. To have such a shameful person representing law enforcement speaks ill of the people of Arizona and police in general.
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Great post. As an incensed Arizonan, I called for his recall on my site, when my wife pointed out that he was jeopardizing the investigation and speaking before almost anything was known. His refusal to support his state’s laws has always been irritating, but the people of Pima County have been re-electing this guy. There is no rule against electing an idiot.
Personally, I think he was trying to cover his rear, since he has dealt with Loughner on multiple occasions prior to the shooting- and done nothing. There may be more to that than has come out yet. His commentary in this case was very much akin to Bloomberg’s health care comment on the Times Square bomber. Never mind the facts, do whatever is possible to slander the Tea Party. I’m almost convinced that there is a concerted effort on the part of some of these folks to provoke a real incident so they can take “emergency measures.” Nah, that’s just paranoia … We’ll see.
Peaceful means of change is the answer. If the people of Pima County finally want to get rid of this dupe by recalling him, that’s a good thing. A recall can be for any reason – the voters having had enough is sufficient.
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Thanks for the compliment. It must be so frustrating to see an man who is supposed to uphold the law continually ignore the law but still get elected, I know it is upsetting from afar and it must be doubly so for you. I also believe that he was trying to cover his ass because he had the chance to stop Loughner before it got this far, but failed to do so.
I hope that this is the final straw and Prima County residents will do the right thing.
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