Gage Skidmore
If you have ever turned on Fox News and happened to see an African American, it was probably David Clarke, Milwaukee County Sheriff—a paid contributor to the network who says inflammatory, often racist, things. He once said, “Let me tell you why 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 often sports an extra-large cowboy hat, worn low over the eyes, and a uniform bristling with medals, many of which are unrelated to any services or honors.
“Let me tell you why 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 bought into the Donald Trump campaign early, and he’s being rewarded with a key position heading up the Office of Partnership and Engagement within the Department of Homeland Security. It is a position with a lot of responsibility.
The Office of Partnership and Engagement runs the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, which is an outreach effort to implore Americans to “contact your local law enforcement agency” when they “see something” that looks like it might be related to terrorism.
In a matter of weeks, this campaign will be headed by a man who actually took out radio ads telling his Milwaukee County constituents not to call their local law enforcement agency for help. Clarke said “calling 911” is “no longer your best option” and instead urged them to get a gun and “fight back.”
The office’s primary function, though, is to coordinate with state, local, and tribal officials to promote “an integrated approach to homeland security.”
In a matter of weeks, this office will be headed by a man has failed miserably to coordinate much of anything with his fellow Milwaukee County officials. Clarke has engaged in a never-ending war of words with Milwaukee’s police chief and mayor, as well as with the Milwaukee County Executive, often spewing personal attacks.
A taste: Back in 2009, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was badly beaten with a tire iron when he intervened to stop a man from attacking a grandmother holding her one-year-old granddaughter. A few weeks ago, Clarke mocked Barrett’s efforts, saying “The last time Tom Barrett showed up at a crime scene he got his ass kicked by a drunk, tire-iron-wielding man who beat him within inches of his life . . . . If you had to call for help, who would you rather see show up, me or timid Tom?”
Putting all that aside, though, if we just zoom in on Clarke’s management record, the prospect of him being promoted to Homeland Security is even more terrifying. As the conservative news outlet Right Wisconsin has pointed out, “he’s the sheriff of a county that doesn’t need a sheriff” and his only real responsibility is overseeing the county jail.
It turns out that getting sent to David Clarke’s jail is like being forced to play Russian Roulette.
Just in the last five months, four inmates have died in the jail, including a newborn baby. One inmate, Terrill Thomas, died from dehydration because the water was turned off to his cell for at least a week. Seven of Clarke’s correctional officers have been recommended by a grand jury to receive criminal neglect charges for the death. As Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Ernst-Ulrich Franzen noted on Wisconsin Public Radio, it is possible, though unlikely, that “Sheriff Clarke could also be charged.”
Just in the last five months, four inmates have died in the jail, overseen by Clarke, including a newborn baby.
So, to review: Clarke is a virulent racist, grossly incompetent, and faces the prospect of being criminally charged. That sounds right up Trump’s ally. The larger problem, though, is that like Trump himself, Clarke is so out of his depth in this position, that having him there is, in itself, a threat to our homeland security.