Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will send armed volunteers into 60 black congregations in his Arizona district on Sunday in response to a request from a local civil rights activist following the South Carolina shootings that killed nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Arpaio said the Rev. Jarrett Maupin asked him to provide the assistance because of possible problems with white supremacist groups in the Phoenix area,
The Arizona Republic reports.
"I am the elected sheriff of this county," Arpaio said on Friday. "He asked me to help, and I'm going to help."
Maupin, who describes himself as a Progressive Baptist preacher on Facebook, told the Republic that he was not aware of any specific threats against local churches.
Black congregations, however, often get hate mail, he said.
"We do have a fear, a very real worry, that the incidents that occurred in Charleston can happen here in Phoenix," Maupin said.
After the December 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the tough-talking Arpaio sent hundreds of posse volunteers to provide security near county schools. The attack in Newtown, Connecticut, left 20 children and six adults dead.
The sheriff also remains under federal supervision because a judge ruled two years ago that Arpaio's office racially profiled Hispanics — and he is scheduled to go on trial in August in a separate lawsuit alleging additional discrimination against Latinos, the Republic reports.
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