What might have been a routine presentation Dec. 17 by the monitor appointed to oversee court-ordered changes within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office turned into a heated confrontation between protesters and supporters of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Several citizens have reported on the meeting, including one who spoke to the Town Council at “call to the public” Dec. 18.

Chief Robert Warshaw, of Warshaw and Associates, was appointed by U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow to oversee changes the judge ordered MCSO to make in the wake of charges the office was racist and discriminatory in its enforcement practices with Hispanics, in particular a series of crime sweeps at various locations within Maricopa County.

Arpaio has said his office has discontinued that enforcement routine.

Warshaw found himself in a position of discussing his second quarterly report on the progress of implementing changes with numerous neighbors and friends of Arpaio at the Community Center, but also a contingent of protestors brought to Fountain Hills by van by the organization “La Puente.”

Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Letourneau, commander for District 7 in Fountain Hills, identified one individual as Salvador Reza, a leader with La Puente who had been arrested on other occasions during protests.

In an e-mail message responding to a Times request for comment, Reza said the group did not come to Fountain Hills to protest.

“We went to make sure our point of view was represented,” Reza said. “We have been opposing Arpaio’s racial profiling since 2007 as Tonatierra (a human rights commission).

“It seems to us that the monitor cannot get a real picture of reality in Maricopa County without the victims presenting with their own words their point of view.”

Lina Bellenir addressed the Town Council Thursday during call to the public to relate what she experienced.

Bellenir told the council that the Community Center had been “invaded by illegal aliens bussed in, to disrupt the meeting.”

She said the protestors threatened to “get” various speakers and were openly critical of people speaking their minds.

Bellenir also said young children were brought to the meeting and openly encouraged by their parents to disrespect authority.

Bellenir said she was surprised that Mayor Linda Kavanagh was the only council member present at the monitor’s meeting.

One individual Bellenir noted as being harassed by the protestors was Enrique Melendez, honorary consul for his native El Salvador. Melendez has dual citizenship and has served as a Fountain Hills Town Councilman.

He addressed the meeting with Warshaw’s permission in his capacity as honorary consul and read a letter he sent to Warshaw and copied to Judge Snow.

“In the eight years that I have served as a United States State Department accredited consul, we have not received one complaint from the Salvadoran community regarding ill treatment of any Salvadoran in a MCSO jail facility or any type of racism directed to a 21,000-plus Salvadoran community,” Melendez’s letter states.

Melendez told The Times that Arpaio has on two occasions met with the consul general for El Salvador to discuss relations, and those meetings were positive.

Melendez said after he made his statement Wednesday evening he was harassed by several people and felt threatened, so he left the meeting.

He said he reported the threatening behavior to MCSO Lt. John D’Amico.

“This was not a good meeting, there was a lot of yelling and booing,” Melendez said.

In an email sent to The Times, Kavanagh said the meeting was in Fountain Hills for the purpose of informing residents about issues concerning the lawsuit against MCSO.

“The residents who attended asked questions respectfully of the moderator but very often were shouted down by the out-of-town protesters,” she stated.

“Some of our residents felt uncomfortable asking questions since several of the protesters were filming everything the residents said, and I was told that one of the protesters had copied down the license plates of all the cars in the parking lot.

“Clearly they were trying to intimidate Fountain Hills residents, which was unfortunate since we were just trying to get information.

“The moderator seemed to slowly lose control of the crowd, allowing the out-of-town protesters to say anything they wanted rather than follow the guidelines that he had insisted on in the beginning.”

Reza indicated the group has also been battling an anti-immigrant attitude in the Valley.

“If you want to see the mindset in Fountain Hills go into the city website and watch the city council meeting,” Reza said. “In (a) minute 50 you will see the mindset that sees all of us as invaders and see us as non-humans, rabble, and undesirables.”

Reza was referring to Bellenir’s comments at the Dec. 18 meeting.

Warshaw’s report, filed with the court on Dec. 15, states that one of the key reasons for the court order was to create a process in which MCSO could “reconnect” in a positive way, however, he states the Sheriff’s Office has been slow to move forward in that process.

“While policies and practices of MCSO are being improved as a result of the court’s intervention, there is little that can alter the culture within MCSO without the support and motivation of all administrators in the organization,” Warshaw states.

“Unfortunately, the top administrator seized the opportunity presented by (a previous) community meeting (in Guadalupe) to divide rather than unite.”

The summary of the report does go on to state that MCSO has made substantial progress in meeting the court’s expectations at the district level with supervisors apparently understanding well what is expected and working to achieve that.

He states there are also areas where MCSO is going beyond the demands of the court order, citing in particular the effort to use personal cameras on all deputies rather than the in-vehicle cameras.

MCSO is also requiring deputies to score 100 percent on an exam based on the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The perfect score is not required by the court order, according to Warshaw’s report.

Going forward there is interest in how the monitoring will impact the sheriff’s operations.

“I was particularly interested in finding out about our town’s future protection under MCSO and if constant monitoring of their actions might impede their ability to keep us safe,” Kavanagh said.

“I also was very concerned about privacy issues related to deputies wearing cameras. Deputies might be required to wear cameras and turn them on for every encounter with the public. What happens when a woman is assaulted, for instance? Does she want to be on video in that condition?

“All of these videos will probably be subject to freedom of information so that anyone can get a copy. What about children who might be victims or present at the scene of a crime? Will now all children be on video?

“Unfortunately with so much distraction (at the meeting), I never got a good answer to either question.”

Reza said his group has its own questions and concerns.

“What we would like to see from the court is that on the 8th of January they declare Arpaio in contempt of court for stonewalling and not complying with the court order,” Reza said, “Also for criminal charges to be brought to the top echelon of MCSO for conspiring to circumvent the court order.

“Unfortunately as the MCSO rank and file strive to change and professionalize, the Phoenix Police Department and other departments continue racial profiling and targeting brown-looking people.” ​