Scandal-Plagued Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke Tapped To Help Run DHS

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 17, 2017 8:55PM

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke / Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olsen

After his name was previously floated to head the Department of Homeland Security, David Clarke Jr., the uber-controversial sheriff of Milwaukee County, has accepted a high-ranking role in the DHS, according to reports.

Clarke reportedly told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna on 1130 WISN that he will leave office as sheriff next month to become Assistant Secretary in DHS. Among Clarke's duties will be to field "complaints of shortcomings" in the department, he was quoted as saying in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Clarke—who stumped in the media for Trump and has been a vocal supporter of the president's immigration policies—reportedly said law enforcement feels "like they're being ignored."

Like the candidate he to whom he threw his support, the number of scandals that have swirled around Clarke are vertiginous—and they've only grown since his name was first bandied back in November.

Most recently, it was revealed last month that a mentally ill prisoner in one of Clarke's prisons died of "profound dehydration" after he was denied water for seven days while in solitary confinement, in 2016, according to prosecutors. The death of Terrill Thomas was ruled a homicide. Clarke, meanwhile, stressed Thomas' criminal history when a lawsuit was filed in March. Three others, including a baby, died at the Milwaukee County Jail within just six months, according to reports.

In his book, the baitingly titled Cop Under Fire: Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime and Politics for a Better America, Clarke shows he is apparently OK with fast-and-loose interpretations of the Constitution, too. He advocated for mass indefinite detention of American citizens suspected of terrorism, according to Mother Jones.

Clarke is also decidedly against sanctuary cities. Clarke supports ICE’s 287(g) program, which essentially deputizes local law enforcement to act as immigration officials. "No more catch and release of criminal illegal aliens. I will assign as many deputies to this initiative as I can. It is a public safety priority," he wrote in January, according to Think Progress.

Clarke—who has also staked out controversial stances against Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter and gun control—blasted "the progressive left" in the wake of high-profile violent protests in Milwaukee last summer. He wrote that he was "livid that Milwaukee’s pathetic, kowtowing city officials and aldermen take this opportunity to abandon their citizens and preen before the Black Lives Matter-enabling media."