Having been completely assured that no sheriff under the supervision of Crazy Joe Arpaio would ever abuse their authority by rounding up nice folks simply because their skin is a little darker or they speak with the hint of an accent, news of the acquittal of Tempe Pastor Steven Anderson, via Bad Lawyer, restores my faith.

Steven Anderson, who is minister of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, was found not guilty Friday afternoon after a two-day trial on charges of obstructing a highway and failure to obey instructions of a law enforcement officer.

Anderson was driving east on Interstate 8 on April 14, 2009 when he drove into the Border Patrol checkpoint at milepost 78. While at the checkpoint, Anderson was stopped and questioned by a Border Patrol agent about his citizenship.

Anderson did not answer and instead replied that he was exercising his Constitutional rights and did not want to answer any questions. He kept asking if he was free to leave.   A Border Patrol agent referred Anderson to the secondary inspection area after a canine allegedly alerted to his vehicle. However, Anderson refused to move to secondary and stayed in his vehicle even after multiple requests from both Border Patrol agents and officers with the Department of Public Safety.

Anderson said the DPS officer and Border Patrol agents eventually broke both windows of his vehicle, tasered him, dragged him out of his car and slammed him onto the ground.   He received 11 stitches and had visible scabs on his forehead following the encounter.

Key to this encounter is that Anderson neither appears Hispanic nor speaks in tongues.  He’s 110% American, and it couldn’t be more plain.  Yet the police demonstrated a complete and total absence of prejudice be tasing him and slamming him to the ground, just like they would any wetback nabbed driving down the highway minding his own business.  You want proof of impartiality?  Here’s Steven Anderson, who’s got 11 stitches and one acquittal to prove it.

What’s that, you say?  Greenfield, you don’t seem nearly as outraged by this malicious, unlawful conduct as you usually do?  Well, I am.  No really, I am.  But I can’t help but smell a whiff of sweet Schadenfreude amidst the antiseptic.  You see, Pastor Steven Anderson, according to the Phoenix New Times, has some nasty views of his own.

But Anderson’s no hero. He’s a hate-spewing advocate of violence against innocents, and he claims his viewpoint is Biblically based.   

Anderson told a radio station last year he believes all homosexuals should be executed. Not only does the right-winger believe President Obama deserves to die — he prays for Obama’s death each night in his bedtime prayers.

By no stretch of the imagination do I believe that what happened to Anderson wasn’t terribly wrong, and fully representative of what we can expect out of our Arizona protectors, Crazy Joe’s assurances notwithstanding. 

It’s just that, well, karma’s a bitch.