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Crocodiles Pen Ode Of Sorts To Sheriff Joe Arpaio Titled "Kill Joe Arpaio"

1:35 p.m. · September 30, 2010 · by Kali Holloway

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is famous for any number of things – alleged egregious civil and human rights violations; reported racial discrimination against Arizona’s Latino population; alledgedly terrorizing undocumented immigrants; reported abuses of power against political opponents and dissidents; suspected unconstitutional searches and seizures; and just generally being a bloviating, publicity obsessed, shamelessly self-promotional asshole – but now Arpaio can add another notch to his belt: He’s been immortalized in song. The track is called “Kill Joe Arpaio,” which makes the "immortalization" part all the more ironic, I suppose. San Diego’s Crocodiles posted the single online last week, prompting Arpaio – who I’m sure is not an avid follower of indie rock but does insist on being alerted whenever his name is mentioned anywhere by anyone ever – to send a Tweet that exemplifies his gentility and eloquence:

"Msg for the San Diego band “Alligators” who wrote new song called “Kill Joe Arpaio”: BITE ME.”

He also complained about the band “threatening a law enforcement official.” When questioned about the incident by Spin magazine, Crocodiles duo Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez offered the following insightful counterpoint:

"First off, we're not threatening him. [Charles weighs] 135 pounds and [is] hardly a man of violence. Maybe if the song was called “I'm Gonna Kill Joe Arpaio,” he'd have a case but what we are attacking is the attitudes and policies he represents. In reality, we're keeping our fingers crossed that his much-deserved heart attack comes soon; the world can always use one less racist. Karma is a bitch, Joe.”

Sheriff Arpaio, meanwhile, is under scrutiny by more investigatory bodies than I care to count. He remains, however, and unsurprisingly, a darling of the right.

You can check out “Kill Joe Arpaio” – which is mostly a wash of buzzing guitars and keys with snippets of radio sound bytes critical of Arizona’s immigration policy – at Spin.com.