SEATTLE — A state lawmaker said Sunday he was just engaging in some sports trash talk when he called Arizona a “racist wasteland.”
State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien, made his comment on Twitter after the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Arizona Cardinals. Fitzgibbon later deleted his message and said in an interview that people were taking his trash talk a little too seriously.
“If folks are going to take that too seriously, then I’m sorry about that,” Fitzgibbon said.
Still, Fitzgibbon said people in Washington “have not appreciated” how Arizona has treated immigrants, particularly citing a 2010 immigration law that was subject to a legal challenge from the federal government. He said Arizona leaders need to look at changing laws that he says amount to racial profiling. One of the 2010 Arizona law’s requirements is that officers, while enforcing other laws, question the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally.
The Cardinals’ 17-10 win Sunday in Seattle kept Arizona’s postseason hopes alive while snapping the Seahawks’ 14-game home win streak. Fitzgibbon’s comment was posted shortly after the game.
