Plaintiffs' attorneys will call Sheriff Joe Arpaio to the stand to testify in a civil trial alleging the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination against Latinos.
During opening arguments on Thursday, plaintiffs' attorneys said they will claim M.C.S.O. deputies "relied on race and ethnicity" during "suppression sweeps," singling out the plaintiffs and other Latino passengers and drivers, reports Courthouse News.
The trial stems from a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims Sheriff Arpaio "acted on racially charged citizen complaints and requests for operations that he forwarded to his senior staff." The complaints criticized people based on "little more than the color of their skin or the fact that they were speaking Spanish," according to an ACLU statement released Monday.
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