Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio to send armed volunteers to protect churches
Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio will send armed volunteers into 60 predominantly black churches Sunday in response to the shooting at a Charleston, S.C., church.
Arpaio said he was responding to a request from Rev. Jarrett Maupin, who USA Today reported is a progressive Baptist preacher and civil-rights advocate, to provide the volunteers.
{mosads}Arpaio said Maupin told him he was worried about racist white supremacists in the area, according to USA Today.
“I am the elected sheriff of this county. He asked me to help, and I’m going to help,” Arpaio said.
Arpaio took a similar approach after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., when he sent more than 100 volunteers to prove security outside of his county’s schools.
Earlier this week, authorities arrested Dylann Roof, 21, in connection with the killing of nine members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a predominantly black church in Charleston.
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