The author of the website then posted a picture of Sheriff Arpaio with textual references claiming he was next to die. Photos of the Sheriff are on the site with the words, “Wanted: Dead or Alive. You’re next Joe, watch your back, bitch.” The investigation also revealed that Brooks was federally convicted in 2001 of making a bomb threat in interstate or foreign commerce.
Clifton Dawayne Brooks
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Portland, Oregon conducted a raid at the request of Sheriff’s detectives on the residence of the TargetingCops.com blogger who threatened to kill Sheriff Arpaio last month.
An FBI SWAT team entered the house around 6AM Monday morning seizing evidence found in the home which may tie suspect, Clifton Dawayne Brooks 35, to the blog posts threatening Sheriff Arpaio’s life. At one point during the raid, agents became concerned and evacuated the area after discovering what appeared to be an improvised explosive device. A bomb squad later determined the device to be a “prop”.
Authorities say as many as eight people were suspected to be living in the home that had been under surveillance for a number of days in preparation for Monday’s SWAT entry. FBI in Portland chose Monday as the day for the raid because of the fact that it was a holiday and a nearby elementary school would be closed, in case the raid became violent.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s detectives have been investigating Brooks since January when they became aware of TargetingCops.com, an internet website that hails all cop killers as ‘heros.’ The site and its author even posted a photo of slain MCSO deputy William Coleman with the internet vernacular LOL (laugh out loud) emblazoned over it. The website gleefully celebrated the untimely death of the deputy with gruesome descriptions of the shooting, calling Coleman a ‘Gestapo pig’ and his killer, 30 year old Drew Ryan Maras, a ‘hero.’
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