‘Question for Him Is Why He Said Anything to Me. Why Didn’t He Just Keep His Mouth Shut?’ Clarke Reportedly Said in a Text to a Deputy
Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a former Trump surrogate and active Trump supporter who frequently appears on Fox News, is under investigation by the FBI, according to Detroit News reporter Robert Snell.
In a late Friday afternoon series of tweets Snell explains the Bureau has obtained a search warrant to examine emails from Clarke related to an incident in the Milwaukee Airport. According to the posted search warrant, a man filed a complaint against now-former Sheriff Clarke, saying his department unlawfully detained him after he shook his head upon seeing Clarke on his flight and asking him if he were Sheriff Clarke.
A text message purportedly from Clarke appears to instruct a Captain to interview the man who filed the complaint, but not arrest him “unless he becomes an asshole.”
It is illegal to make an arrest just because someone behaves in a lawful manner that a law enforcement official doesn’t like.
The text message, which Snell posted to Twitter, says, “Just a field interview. no arrest unless he becomes an asshole with your guys. Question for him is why he said anything to me. Why didn’t he just keep his mouth shut?”
In May The Journal Sentinel reported on the incident, which took place last January:
The man, identified as Dan Black, “says he was detained, interviewed and escorted out of Mitchell International Airport on Jan. 15 by a half-dozen deputies after a brief run-in with the sheriff on the plane. He says in the federal suit that he was the victim of an unlawful stop and arrest.”
Since Black went public with his complaint, Clarke has threatened and belittled his fellow passenger, calling Black a “snowflake” and saying anyone, including Black, who harasses him on an airplane might get “knocked out.”
The Daily Beast adds:
The affidavit also reveals that Clarke emailed subordinates asking them to post “memes and messages” including one calling Black a “snowflake” on the official Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Facebook page.
NBC News confirmed the search warrant:
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti, currently running for Illinois governor, explains:
Last spring Clarke announced he was hired to become an Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. That role did not materialize.
Clarke, in response the the Supreme Court’s decision finding same-sex couples have a right to marry, called for “rage, then revolt.” he reportedly called for “pitchforks and torches,” and called for “a revolution” in response to the Obergefell decision.
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