Sherriff Joe's right-hand man tells all.. "He's a monster"

[Joanne98]

Former MCSO honcho Tom Bearup with his wife Adele, from Brendan Joel Kelley's feature on him in the Anchorage Press.

From the mythical land of grizzly bears and sockeye salmon comes this gripping portrait of former Arpaio henchman turned Arpaio foe Tom Bearup, penned by ex-New Times writer Brendan Joel Kelley. You may remember Brendan for his music columns and for his New Times blog Ear Infection. Well, he's in Alaska now, working for the alternative weekly there, the Anchorage Press. Bearup, too, lives in Alaska now, which may be where we'll all have to move if Arpaio wins reelection once again.

Bearup, who's an ordained minister, is building a church and a home for unwed mothers in Soldotna, AK. In the profile, Bearup discusses how he helped Joe achieve and consolidate power, and how he eventually turned on Joe over the issue of the pink underwear money for the posse, as Joe refused to probe possible misuse of the money raised through the sale of the fuchsia boxers. He also breaks with Joe over the chilling demise of Scott Norberg in Joe's jails, a wrongful death which cost the county $8.25 million.

“I’m so embarrassed that I’ve ever had the relationship I had with Joe Arpaio, because I helped him get to where he’s at,” Bearup tells Kelley. “I think a lot of it was my credibility that got him to where he’s at, because people trusted me when I told them about him. ‘Don’t worry about that, he’s a little bit eccentric, but his heart is in the right place. He wants to do the right thing.’ And I know there was something in my heart that said maybe there’s something wrong there… the guy’s a little wacky in some areas...He became a monster. And that monster is not anything that I could be with.”

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2008/03/the_trials_of_tom_bearup_joe_a.php

[tachyon]

1. I knew instantly from your subject line who this was about!

;-)

[Joanne98]

2. Lol. Welcome to DU.

[varkam]

10. Me too. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[flashl]

3. Wonder whats gonna happen to all those Sheriff Joe worshippers? nt

[tluvstigr]

4. Finally

Someone speaks out about how much of an ass he is. I hate the way he treats people...

[annabanana]

6. Welcome to DU. .

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The more people know exactly how this guy operated, the sooner he will be shut down.

[varkam]

11. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Richard Steele]

5. K&R

[Joanne98]

7. kick

[HCE SuiGeneris]

8. Recommended.

[varkam]

9. K&R

You can judge any society by how it treats it's prisoners. What do stories like this tell us about our country?

[Joanne98]

12. kick

[lonestarnot]

13. But I thought Hendershotintheface was his righthand man?

:shrug:

[Joanne98]

14. He must have more than one right-hand-man! That sneaky rat!

:hi:

[Joanne98]

15. kick

[roguevalley]

16. I had to read this twice because i know Tom Bearup. he was mayor

of our town way back in the day. Everytime i go into the city hall, his picture is there on the wall. That said, he sort of disappeared under an unexplained cloud. He was a year behind in his mortgage and owed up the wazoo. He was a slick boy, that
one. Now he's a preacher? I'm not surprised. I heard he was back, I wondered how he had the gall. But I guess if you're as
brazen as that and you're building a home like that, you don't have a conscience.

"I’m so embarrassed that I’ve ever had the relationship I had with Joe Arpaio, because I helped him get to where he’s at,” Bearup tells Kelley. “I think a lot of it was my credibility that got him to where he’s at, because people trusted me when I told them about him."

May I laugh at the above? Some things never change. Two peas in a pod.