Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, has announced that he’ll be joining the Trump Administration as the newest DHS Assistant Secretary. He would be reporting to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and working as a liaison with state and local law enforcement and governments. The position does not require Senate confirmation.
Clarke is bad pick for liaison to state and local agencies and governments
Clarke’s reported portfolio with DHS is an important role — Clarke himself said that one of his responsibilities would be to “take complaints of shortcomings” with DHS from local law enforcement officials who “feel like they’re being ignored.” One of those shortcomings may involve the Trump Administration’s insistence that local police be involved in immigration enforcement, a practice that many police officers oppose because it makes communities less safe. It’s also an example of the federal government railroading over local policies.
Unfortunately, Clarke would be a poor carrier for that message, as he supports the federal 287(g) program that would force police officers to double as immigration agents. Moreover, Clarke is unlikely to be a serious messenger for any issue, as he is completely and seriously wing-nut crazy — as a glance through his tweets will show. The group Voces de la Frontera, which is based in Milwaukee, is a Clarke constituent, and includes some of the people who know Clarke best, put out a press release saying that Clarke is “unfit for any office”. And the DHS official whom Clarke would be replacing had a tweetstorm of things to say about Clarke’s rumored appointment:
Current DHS Assistant Secretary: Clarke “can’t do” job
I’m being replaced @DHSgov by #SheriffClarke. My job was to work with state and local officials. Clarke says he wants to strangle #Democrats
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
So much for Sheriff Clarke’s ability to work with #Democratic governors and mayors, he is too polarizing and calls critics #snowflakes
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
His department is being investigated for an inmate death because they refused to give the inmate water, he died of #dehydration
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
The job is massive, the issues are complex and nuanced, and requires political tact and ability to build relationships, he can’t do that
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
#SheriffClarke will take an entirely different approach to job than @juliettekayyem @BetsyMarkey and I ever did.
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
I guess he’s getting out of Milwaukee before the voters fire him. In recent polling 62% of votes disapproved of his job as #sheriff
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
Asked about working with Democrats Clarke said he wants to grab them by their throats, I never said that about GOP electeds I worked with
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
I feel bad for my career staff @DHSgov, also bad for groups like @NatlGovsAssoc @usmayors, will he really be their #advocate inside DHS?
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
@DHSgov @NatlGovsAssoc @usmayors Also why did #SheriffClarke travel to #Russia in 2015 to meet with one of #putin‘s deputies? And who paid for trip?
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
@DHSgov @NatlGovsAssoc @usmayors Well I can say that I’ve never been sued by the @ACLU and I’ve never traveled to Russia to meet with a Putin deputy
— Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017
Here’s a record of what Sheriff Clarke has said and done:
- He received just under $20,000 in airfare, meals and hotel fees for a 2013 Russia trip (given Trump’s predilections, perhaps this is why Clarke was chosen)
- He plagiarized portions of his masters’ thesis on US security
- He said, “Before long, Black Lies Matter will join forces with ISIS to being down our legal constituted republic. You heard it first here.” He also called BLM “black slime” and “sub-human scum” who need to be “eradicated from the American society”
- Supported efforts to allow concealed carry on Wisconsin college campuses – “The only person who is safe in a gun free zone is the mass murderer.”
- Opposed efforts to reduce mass incarceration and promote rehabilitation
- Named 2013 Sheriff of the Year by Richard Mack’s Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (the antigovernment group who supported Cliven Bundy in his standoff against the government)
- Argued that welfare has made black Americans dependent on the state and fueled the breakdown of families and continuation of crime. He said “blacks sell drugs and involve themselves in criminal behavior instead of a more socially acceptable lifestyle because they’re uneducated, they’re lazy, and they’re morally bankrupt.”
- Clarke argued against plea bargains and any other sentences other than incarceration for all major crimes
- Planned to turn his department into an immigration detention force to fulfill Trump’s campaign promises to deport undocumented immigrants.
- Applied to join the 287(g) program that makes communities less safe and forces local law enforcement to double as immigration officers
- He is called an absentee sheriff, so focused on his national presence that he neglects his local responsibilities. He’s faced calls that he should resign over his absenteeism
- There have been at least 4 deaths at the Milwaukee County jail in the last year. One has been ruled a homicide after a 38 year old with bipolar disorder died of dehydration after his water supply was cut off for seven days.
- His jail forced a woman to give birth while she was in shackles—the baby died.
- He tweeted a picture of former President Obama in front of Taliban leaders to call him an “enemy sympathizer” and “deserting weasel”. He also called President Obama a “heartless, soulless bastard” for his comments on Trayvon Martin, and claimed Obama was trying to emasculate the police in order to seize dictatorial control of the country.
- He tweeted that “Liberal indoctrination has similarities to ethnic cleansing”
- He warned of a “second American revolution if cops have to enforce extreme gun control measures”
- He has referred to Islam as a “sick ideology” that needs to be destroyed
- He called for “pitchforks and torches” as well as a “revolution” in response to the 2015 marriage equality ruling
- He wanted to imprison up to a million suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and hold them indefinitely under a suspension of habeas corpus
- He said “there is no police brutality in America. We ended that back in the sixties.”
More resources
- Fox Favorite And “Trump Loyalist” Sheriff David Clarke Appointed To DHS Role (Media Matters)
- America’s No. 1 Rabble-Rousing Pro-Trump Sheriff Is Under a Growing Cloud (Mother Jones)
- David Clarke (Center for New Community)
