Sheriff Joe, ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff,’ SHOCKS Inmates With Rare Act
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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has made a name for himself as “America’s toughest sheriff” by taking a hardline approach to overseeing the inmates at his facilities. However, the no-nonsense sheriff shocked his inmates over the weekend by committing a rare act of kindness.
For the first time in years, many years actually, Sheriff Joe, who forces his inmates to wear pink underwear and sleep on pink sheets, allowed them to watch the Super Bowl, according to the New York Times. Although in keeping with his bulldog attitude, there was a catch to the rare viewing event – any mishaps and everyone goes on lockdown, all 8,500 prisoners.
The 82-year-old sheriff was able to get one of his donors to pay for 200 pounds of popcorn kernels so that a select few of the inmates could eat popcorn during the game. However, there wasn’t any butter or salt. In keeping with his pink-themed jail, the popcorn was dyed with a cherry powder so it was pink as well.
Even in Arpaio’s kindness, there’s strict rules that will have to be followed. Only inmates with sentences less than a year or military veterans will get to have any popcorn, and if anyone gets out of line, every television in the jail will be turned off, regardless of what the score is.
“There’s no constitutional reason I have to let them watch the game,” said Arpaio.
Nobody’s entirely sure of when the Super Bowl was last seen in the jail, but some say they remember seeing it in 2008, which was the last time it was played in Phoenix. Arpaio said the reason they were able to see it this year was because he was born in Springfield, Mass. and the Patriots are playing, but he’s not a Patriots fan, he says.
The event at the Maricopa County jail was paid for by a long-time Arpaio supporter by the name of Ira Gaines, who’s a theater producer. Gaines forked out $225 for the popcorn, and in his eyes, Sheriff Joe “can do no wrong.”
Arpaio didn’t attend yesterday’s Super Bowl, but he instead stayed home to watch it with his wife. Not wanting to pay $2,000 for tickets and fearing political backlash if he took free tickets, he decided the comfort of his home was the best place to be. Being home also allowed him to keep a close eye on the prison should anything go wrong.
“You never know what the prisoners will do,” he said. “If we have any problem, we’ll just put them in lockdown.”
Oh, in case you’re wondering, the sheriff pulls for the Dallas Cowboys, and has a ball signed by their quarterback, Tony Romo, in his office.
Let us know what you think of Sheriff Joe in the comments!