Zack de la Rocha, formerly of Rage Against the Machine and currently of One Day as a Lion, led a protest in Phoenix, AZ yesterday against Joe Arpaio, the controversial Sheriff of Maricopa County. LA Times reports that protesters claim Arpaio, aka Sheriff Joe, uses racial profiling against the Latino community while enforcing immigration laws.
At the protest, De la Rocha said, “Without the proper warrants, he raids the homes and workplaces of janitors and gardeners. At routine traffic stops he detains and deports mothers, violently separating them from their children, who are left abandoned.”
Incidentally, rapper DMX is currently being held at the Maricopa County Prison, where Sheriff Arpaio has been criticized for his unusual treatment of prisoners. DMX complained about the Sheriff in an interview last month, objecting to Arpaio’s policy of forcing inmates to wear pink clothing.
For more information on today’s protest and a video of De la Rocha’s performance, click here.