Arizona sheriff sending armed posse into black churches

EJ Montini | The Arizona Republic

Show Caption Hide Caption Armed posses to protect black churches in Arizona Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will send armed posses of volunteers to 60 black churches around Phoenix, following the deadly attack on a historically black church in Charleston. Arpaio's office has previously been accused of racial profiling.

PHOENIX — A sheriff on trial, accused of harassing some members of a minority community, will send armed volunteer posse members into 60 black churches Sunday in response to the racially motivated attack in South Carolina earlier this week.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who already is under federal supervision because of a ruling two years ago that his office racially profiled Hispanics in its traffic and immigration patrols, is scheduled to go to trial in August in a separate lawsuit alleging additional discrimination against Latinos.

He said the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, who describes himself as a Progressive Baptist preacher and civil-rights campaigner on his Facebook page, asked him to provide the protection because he was worried about problems with white supremacists in the area.

"I am the elected sheriff of this county. He asked me to help, and I'm going to help," Arpaio said Friday.

Maupin said he wasn't aware of any specific threats against churches within the county, the largest in Arizona, but he added that places of worship with black congregations often get hate mail.

"We do have a fear, a very real worry, that the incidents that occurred in Charleston can happen here in Phoenix," Maupin said.

More than two years ago, Arpaio sent hundreds of posse volunteers to provide security outside of school grounds in wake of a shooting that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school.

In Memphis, police are investigating a bullet fired through the back door Wednesday of St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church, the same evening that Dylann Roof, 21, is accused of killing nine members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., as they sat in a Bible study group in the church's basement.

Gang violence is prevalent in the neighborhood where St. Matthew is located, so it is unknown whether the church was targeted because its members are predominantly black.

In the Phoenix area, indications are that not all of the churches involved want posse members patrolling near their pulpits. When told of one pastor's concerns, Arpaio said at a press conference, "But I'll tell you, he's going to get them whether he likes them or not."

Contributing: The Associated Press