One Wisconsin Now
Press Release

David Clarke’s Greatest Outrages & Lowlights

‘Clarke Is Incompetent, Bombastic & Hates Showing Up for Work: He’s The Perfect Trump Appointee’ — One WI Now

By - May 17th, 2017 03:57 pm
Sheriff David Clarke speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Sheriff David Clarke speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

MADISON, Wis. — Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke says he’s leaving the job he never shows up to in Wisconsin in order to join Donald Trump in Washington D.C. While Clarke may be familiar to some from his incomprehensible Fox News appearances, he has a lengthy and embarrassing record of extremism, bombast and incompetence as Milwaukee’s sheriff.

“David Clarke is incompetent, bombastic and hates showing up for work. He’s the perfect Trump appointee,” said One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “David Clarke is the human embodiment of the insane email chain your racist uncle forwards you.”

Among the lowlights of Clarke’s tenure, Ross cited just a small sampling of the jaw-dropping conduct of the man ostensibly in charge of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office:

Multiple deaths at Milwaukee County Jail:
There have been four fatal incidents at the Milwaukee County Jail that Clarke oversees in recent times, including the death of a newborn. According to a notice of claim, jail staff ignored pleas for help from a 30-year-old woman who was nine months pregnant and being held for a probation violation in the Milwaukee County Jail. The woman gave birth while being held and the newborn died. Three other individuals have died while in custody at the Clarke run jail. There was also the case of a 38-year-old man who died of dehydration after being tortured to death under Clarke’s custody by being denied water for seven days. The manner of death was ruled homicide and local authorities are investigating the death as a criminal matter.

Absence after a mass shooting at a Sikh temple:
Clarke was nowhere to be found when one of the worst tragedies in state history struck in Milwaukee County, when a mass shooting occurred at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek. Clarke was notable in his still unexplained absence in which six innocent worshippers were killed and four wounded by a white supremacist madman. When One Wisconsin Now requested records of his whereabouts, Clarke provided a calendar which was almost completely redacted.

Had a Plane Passenger Detained for Shaking His Head at Clarke, Said He Would Physically Attack Anyone Else Who Did It in Future:
Clarke had a passenger on a commercial plane detained by Milwaukee County law enforcement because the man shook his head at him. Not content with that abuse of power, Clarke further declared he would “knock out” anyone else who shook their heads at Clarke.

Marriage equality meltdown:
Clarke took to social media to post, “Next is rage, then revolt,” in response to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality. Not content to stop there, Clarke in a media interview pondered, “… who would have thought that in the 21st century homosexuality would come out of the closet and churches would be forced to go into the closet?” and opined, “If we don’t resist, we can see what is happening before our eyes …” It was also reported that in his radio show he advocated for, “pitchforks and torches” and that, “If you call yourself an American, then you have to start a revolution in this country after what happened last week at the United States Supreme Court.” Clarke also took to social media with the call for “pitchforks and torches”.

Use of public tax dollars to promote vigilantism:
Clarke advised Milwaukee County residents that 9-1-1 was not their best option and instead encouraged them to pursue vigilante style justice. In taxpayer-financed radio ads, Clarke urged citizens to arm themselves and shoot people whom they felt threatened by, calling 9-1-1 only after potentially shooting and killing someone.

Shout out from the Cliven Bundy Ranch standoff:
Clarke was praised at a press conference by Richard Mack, Executive Director of the right-wing Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) at the ranch of extremist rancher Cliven Bundy during his standoff with the federal government. While at the Bundy ranch Clarke’s friend Mack, who according to the Southern Poverty Law Center has ties to right-wing militia groups, advocated for using women as human shields to generate sympathy.

Revolting racism:
Clarke declared that, “… 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.”

Support for “nullification” of firearms regulations and other laws:
Clarke is supported by and was named “Sheriff of the Year” in 2013 by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), an organization that encourages local sheriffs to ignore federal laws, like firearm regulations, that they believe are at odds with the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Childish insults of opponents:
Clarke lashed out at the Milwaukee County Executive and accused him of targeting the Sheriff’s office for budget reductions because of, “penis envy.”

More information and research on David Clarke is available by contacting One Wisconsin Now via email at own@onewisconsinnow.org.

One Wisconsin Now is a statewide communications network specializing in effective earned media and online organizing to advance progressive leadership and values.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

Organizations:

Recent Press Releases by One Wisconsin Now

Dan Kelly’s Opinion: It’s OK to Lie in Judicial Campaigns

State Supreme Court Candidate Co-Authored Column Opposing Efforts to Clean Up Court Campaigns

Campaign Cash Keeps Flowing to WILL’s Shill Dan Kelly

Over $14,000 from Board Members of Right-Wing Legal Group to State Court Justice’s Campaign

Right-Wing Group That Wants to Criminalize Abortion Backs Dan Kelly State Supreme Court Campaign

Dan Kelly Supporters Want Court Action to Allow Enforcement of Abortion Ban Dating to 19th Century

Comments

  1. Wisconsin Conservative Digest says:

    This really funny article. How come 80% of the people voted for him in the last election? The Left is destroying Milwaukee, except for downtown.
    Runaway crime, car theft, carjacking, murders, heroin epidemic, human trafficking, bad road, schools a National Disgrace, corrupt govt. Milwaukee county a joke in Wis. and on. Clarke points this out and the Left whines and whine.

  2. Vincent Hanna says:

    I agree WCD. He craves media attention and the spotlight, and when four people die in a facility he is responsible for suddenly he is nowhere to be found, and the damn left is all outraged. Talk about fake news. It’s only four dead people. Not a thousand.

  3. Wisconsin Conservative Digest says:

    Whine, whine, whine.

  4. sharon pendleton says:

    Clarke will fit right – and I do mean RIGHT – in with Trump-land.

  5. Vincent Hanna says:

    Irony, irony, irony. How is your original post not whining?

  6. Jeff w. says:

    Good riddance to this poor excuse of a sheriff and a worse excuse for a human being. Please never return to Wisconsin you piece of shit.

  7. Rich says:

    I’m sorry, WCD, you must’ve used that invisible font again, because I didn’t see solutions anywhere in your post.

    Spare us the usual rebuttal directing us to read Frankovich (or whoever the heck he is)…you’re not thinking far enough ahead or about even your own tax bill when the just the costs for the prison you support come due.

    If sending all of *them* to prison worked to solve the problem, then 53206 would be the best place on earth to live.

  8. Wisconsin Conservative Digest says:

    Clarke is hated by the Lefties, on this site, cause he knows how to solve the crime problem. We had that pretty well in hand until the Barrett/Flynn/Chisholm,/Kremers group instituted the “Catch and Release” program. People on this site do know that their neighborhoods are kept safe cause they are all whitey’s, but the Inner city, both Black and Hispanic, are shooting galleries, cause of the Drugs.
    The fact that no-one goes to jail. Frankovis was Police Captain in the inner city for decade and reduced crime dramatically, has written a book.
    The whiteys do not care if kids cannot read, MPS a “national Disgrace” or that they cannot sit in their front rooms or on their porches in the summer cause of the shootouts.
    Clarke gave them answers while this gang, bunch of nutty white, liberal, racist, lefties, and others of their ilk just make excuses.
    Most of you do not care about Inner city kids or if they get shot. Bunch of racists masquerading as responsible citizens. Spend the cities money on downtown trolleys, Bucks while the police dept. is understaffed but 250 officers.
    There is reason that Clarke got 80% of the vote, last time, and that is cause the families of the community know he is right.

  9. Vincent Hanna says:

    Case closed Rich. Nothing but solutions and reasonable commentary right there.

  10. Dave Reid says:

    This seems relevant: http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2012/10/03/murphy%E2%80%99s-law-too-many-cops-in-milwaukee-county/

    “In 2009, the sheriff reported only 19 crimes to the FBI, compared to 41,375 for the Milwaukee police, 3,288 for West Allis police, 1,908 for Wauwatosa and even 242 for the UW-Milwaukee police. That’s right, the UWM campus police handled 12 times more criminals than the Sheriff’s Department.”

  11. MKE kid says:

    Great news! Maybe now we’ll get a sheriff who actually does his/her job and actually earns his/her taxpayer funded six figure salary. My only concern at this point is if Governor Walker will keep his politics out of appointing a replacement. Being professional, impartial, and not expecting a “contribution” is not Walker’s way of doing business.

  12. Vincent Hanna says:

    Walker will do whatever the Bradley Foundation tells him to do.

  13. crouching sessions, hidden trump says:

    A blustering, heartless shell of a man. And those are his good qualities. He’ll fit right into the Trump Administration.

  14. MKE kid says:

    This is for WCD:

    “Later Wednesday morning, the race results at FOX6Now.com showed Clarke marked as the victor in the race — with 59,191 votes (52%). The results showed Moews with 54,549 votes (48%).”

    Pretty tight race with first time candidate Moews running against big bad Clarke. I won’t even begin to compare how much Clarke outspent Moews.

    This was taken from the FOX 6 website. And we all know FOX is always correct, right?

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us