PHOENIX—U.S. President Donald Trump won’t pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio during his visit to Arizona, the White House said Tuesday as supporters and protesters gathered near the site of Trump’s latest campaign rally.Outside the Phoenix convention centre, shouting matches and minor scuffles erupted between the two sides. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton had asked Trump to delay his political event to allow for more time of national healing.It’s the first Trump campaign rally since a Charlottesville, Va., protest organized by white supremacists led to three deaths.Eager to capitalize on his hard-line stance on immigration, Trump had teased the politically inflammatory possibility of pardoning Arpaio. The former Maricopa County sheriff is awaiting sentencing after his conviction in federal court for disobeying court orders to stop his immigration patrols.White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump won’t discuss or take action on a pardon “at any point today,” even though the president has said he’s considering it.Read more: Stop saying ‘Mexico is not going to pay for the wall,’ Trump urges Mexican president in leaked transcriptTrump’s plan to win in Afghanistan involves sending 3,900 more troops, officials sayDonald Trump again echoes white supremacists over removal of ‘our beautiful’ Confederate statuesThe president began his Arizona visit with a brief trip to the southern edge of the country.While touring a Marine Corps base in Yuma that is a hub of operations for the U.S. Border Patrol, Trump inspected a drone and other border equipment on display in a hangar.Trump shook his head as he was shown a series of everyday objects, such as a fire extinguisher, that had been refashioned to secretly transport drugs across the border. Afterward, he spent about 20 minutes greeting service members in the gruelling, 106-degree heat, signing caps with his “Make Amer ...
|
