Earlier this month, on  a hot afternoon, I covered  a tea party gathering in favor of Arizona’s new immigration law, SB 1070, which goes into effect July 29 if not stalled by some sort of court action. The law is controversial because it forces all state policemen to become immigration enforcers, and requires them to check papers while lawfully stopping, detaining or arresting people they “reasonably suspect” of being immigration lawbreakers. Those lawful stops and arrests and detentions (detention is a muddy concept that bothers lawyers looking into this)  could involve broken tail lights and misuse of leaf blowers, since all city and county ordinances  fall under SB 1070′s enforcement umbrella. And if an American citizen driving, living with, or having lunch with someone he or she knows to be in the country illegally, and if the American happens to violate an ordinance, he or she can be criminalized for “harboring” an “illegal alien.” To top it all off, SB 1070 allows Arizona residents to sue the employers (state, county, city) of the cops if the cops aren’t properly enforcing the law.

Not a word of the SB 1070 refers to enforcement of the border.

The sponsor of the law, Russell Pearce, a state senator who says he’s had a hand in all of Arizona’s precedent setting and increasingly harsh immigration laws, attended the event. I snapped a photo. Notice the American Flag fashionista — this is typical dress at such events.

Pearce spoke at the rally. Then he walked a few feet to a fundraising barbecue held by Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth, who is running against John McCain in the Republican primary. J.D. Hayworth calls himself a consistent conservative, although his critics dispute that, pointing to a link with  Jack Abramoff and votes approving spending when he was in Congress.

These events, both pro and con SB 1070, are theatrical. There are props. Example: Buttons.

I was taking a picture of one vendor’s button collection when,  out of the wild blue yonder, a 75-year-old cowboy named Bud Hart rode his horse up to the Tea Party crowd. He carried a sign protesting SB 1070, and told anyone who would listen it is a bad law that will hurt the state economically. The Tea Partiers were polite to the cowboy, except for one woman who tried to shoo the horse. The horse, a 13-year-old Quarter Horse named Big’n, had a  a gentle disposition, didn’t know what to make of the Tea Party lady. Other protestors, to their credit, told the woman not to scare Big’n, even if she didn’t agree with his rider. This upset the woman, and it is possible she complained to the cops. Someone complained to the cops, because they came over to Hart and told him to take down his sign. Below, Hart talks to the protestors.

And below,  a picture of Hart being confronted by the Capital Police.

I heard the policemen tell  Hart that he had to take his sign down, and Hart told the  policeman about his constitutional right to free speech. The policeman  said Hart shouldn’t carry a sign because the space had been rented. Hart, sounding like a Tea Partier, talked about his constitutional rights some more. The police finally gave up. It’s not clear whether the shoo-lady with hurt feelings had complained to the police, or whether JD Hayworth, who had Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Tom Tancredo and Russell Pearce lined up to speak at his fundraising barbecue, complained. Whoever complained, though, dropped the complaint. Hart rode off into the sunset on Big’n.

I called him a few days later.

He told me he grew up on Arizona ranches, and knew a thing or two about the Constitution. He said he’d never protested before, but SB 1070 sickened him and so he decided  to take a stand. He’d lived among Mexicans for decades he said, and most were good hardworking people who didn’t deserve persecution. Enough is enough, he said. This had to stop. And honestly, where else but in Arizona would  a Constitution-savvy cowboy be free-spirited enough to ride into a rally and speak his free speech mind?

When he’s not protesting, he’s caring for Big’n.  He told me he’d  keep the pony until one of them died, and if Hart died first, he’d made arrangements for Big’n to go to a family with kids.

Big’n is an unusual horse.

He is, to hear Hart tell it, a superb roping and work horse, but he’s also gentle.

Hart rode him into a bar last year, and Big’n seemed not to mind  the bar folk petting him in the dark, smoky, strange room.

As I said, only in Arizona……..