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Vigilante Sheriff

Polarizing Sheriff David Clarke Says He'll Take a Top Homeland Security Job  - The New York Times
Clarke at Trump Tower during the transition

Trump once appointed this person for a top job at the Department of Homeland Security:

DAVID CLARKE (GUEST HOST): The question is when is government going to do something? Inaction is not a plan. You know what happens with inaction? People take the law into their own hands. Government is leaving them no choice. No choice. I don’t advocate for some of the stuff that’s starting to happen, but I am certainly done — I am through with condemning it. I’m done with that.

I’m just telling people, “Hey, you’re on your own.” Think about it, have a plan. Act reasonably. You have to act reasonably. Then you’re going to have to articulate what you did afterwards. But you can’t have government officials and law enforcement executives telling people, “Do not take the law into your own hands.” Well, you’re forcing them to!

The majority of these gun purchases are first-time gun owners. And when we leave this up to the individual, it’s not going to end real pretty. But I don’t blame them. Have a plan, think it through, be able to articulate it, and be reasonable. It’s all the law requires. You have the right to defend yourself, you don’t need permission from the police or a sheriff.

Clarke withdrew from consideration when his record of plagiarism and revealed and national attention came to all the death of inmates in his jails. But Trump met with him and they discussed the other ways he could help Trump. That was in the beginning of the administration when they still adhered to a few norms and thought they needed to obtain Senate approval.

Today, Trump would appoint him acting Secretary in a heartbeat and that would be that. After all, the current Acting Secretary, Chad Wolf, has no previous experience and is completely unqualified beyond being a lobbyist and eager Trump henchman.

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