ADL: Homeland Security Post For ‘Extremist’ Sheriff Would Be ‘Shameful’
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League warned that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke’s consideration for a senior post at the Department of Homeland Security is “shameful” and “dangerous.”
Clarke, who has said he would “grab Democrats by the throat” and whom ADL said has ties to “two anti-government groups well known for trying to recruit law enforcement officers,” said during an interview Wednesday that he has accepted a position to serve as an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. The department said in a statement no decision has been made regarding the reported plan to appoint Clarke.
“An individual representing such extremist ideologies should not be given this type of leadership role and we urge the Trump administration not to go forward with this appointment,” ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in a statement Thursday.
According to the ADL, Clarke has ties with the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and the Oath Keepers – a group that ADL described as “an anti-government right-wing fringe organization” that promotes conspiracy theories.
Clarke, who is African American, used harsh language in condemning the Black Lives Matter protest movement, calling it “black scum.”
An individual “representing such extremist ideologies should not be given this type of leadership role,” Greenblatt wrote.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30