Sheriff who responded to Temple Israel attack faces online backlash
Social media pounced when Sheriff Mike Bouchard said a man had been arrested after posting an antisemitic meme
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard speaks during a press conference on March 19, 2026. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — During a press conference last Thursday, organized to address rising antisemitism in the wake of the ramming attack on Temple Israel in Detroit earlier this month, the Oakland County sheriff who helped organize the police response to the incident announced the arrest of what seemed like the latest perpetrator: an individual who had posted an antisemitic meme ridiculing the sheriff.
Sheriff Mike Bouchard displayed the image, featuring his face altered to include a Star of David over his forehead and payot, the sidelocks worn by some Jewish men, dangling near his ears.
“Some pond scum felt empowered and emboldened enough to put this picture of me up to try to threaten and intimidate me,” Bouchard, who is not Jewish, said during the press conference. “And by the way, the person that did this said a bunch of terrible things, not just against me, but against a lot of groups and individuals, who, by the way, was arrested today in Wisconsin.”
But while the arrest was only briefly mentioned during the press conference, which featured Bouchard and a group of religious leaders, including Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel, by Tuesday it had been seized on by thousands of users on X as evidence of censorship and Jewish supremacy.
“Arrested in America for pointing out that a sheriff is jewish,” Jake Shields, a far-right influencer and former MMA champion, wrote in a post on X.
“Jews are murdering free speech in America,” wrote another influencer.
On Tuesday, as online criticism reached a fever pitch, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office offered a rebuke, and a clarification, in a post on X.
The man who had been arrested was not taken into custody for his antisemitic posts, but on an unrelated charge, the office explained.
“For people that are whining that someone was arrested for posting a meme; sorry to disappoint. Not even for threatening, racist, AND anti-semitic comments. He had a prior outstanding felony stalking warrant on something completely unrelated, which drew local police attention to him when someone complained,” the post read.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for information about the Wisconsin man who had been arrested. But even in the wake of a shocking antisemitic attack, in which a suspect barreled down the hallway of a synagogue in a pickup truck loaded with incendiaries, the discourse on social media remained polarized and ugly. And a press conference meant to denounce antisemitism inspired yet more vitriol.
A Florida-based coffee company that markets itself to right-wing customers called for Bouchard to be “fired and imprisoned.” In response to one of their tweets, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office wrote, “Very fake. He wasn’t arrested for a meme or even threatening, racist, and antisemitic postings. He had a felony warrant for aggravated stalking on something else.”
As the row continued on social media, Bouchard issued his own response to the commentary during a national security briefing Tuesday hosted online by the Secure Community Network, a Jewish nonprofit, where he discussed the coordinated response to the attack on Temple Israel.
After playing aloud a voicemail where an individual instructed him to “put your gun in your mouth and kill yourself,” Bouchard said that he was “stunned” by the amount of vitriol, adding that “we’re in an environment that I’ve never seen.”
“Apparently we struck a nerve with a lot of folks,” Bouchard said. “They’re hiding behind the Second Amendment, the First Amendment, none of which is under attack, but I think they’re using that as cover to hide their antisemitism, their hate, their prejudice and things that are disgusting.”
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