Zack de la Rocha Endorses Anti-Arpaio Rally and May Be at Phoenix March
In what appears to be a major coup for the activists organizing the anti-Arpaio action the weekend of February 28, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network has announced through a press release that firebrand frontman Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine fame is encouraging people to join the march and rage against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's treatment of the undocumented.
De la Rocha, known for his incendiary lyrics, his support of imprisoned radicals such as Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier, and his advocacy for Mexico's Zapatista rebels, will also apparently be in town for the march, according to the release and various sources inside the pro-immigrant activist community.
"Recently the nation witnessed the ritual humiliation of migrants in a spectacle evocative of some of the most horrific episodes of human history," explains Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "People across the country are outraged at the shameful violations of human rights perpetrated by the Maricopa County Sheriffs and they are being moved to action."
In the last month Sheriff Joe Arpaio intensified his on-going escalation of attacks against Latinos by segregating the county jail and parading undocumented migrants shackled in a chain-gang into "tent city." He erected and surrounded the tent with an electric fence in a grotesque display of human degradation.
Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine responded to the news by saying, "To witness what is happening in Arizona and remain neutral is to be implicated in human rights violations that are occurring right here on US soil against migrants. History will not be kind to Joe Arpaio. He will be remembered with other infamous sheriffs like Bull Connor who subjugated and terrorized communities for shortsighted political gain. I hope everyone will join me in protesting Sheriff Joe."