David Clarke (sheriff)

Clarke was born in Milwaukee, one of five children of Jeri and David Clarke Sr. His father was a paratrooper with the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company. His uncle was NFL player Frank Clarke, whom he idolized. Clarke Jr. attended Marquette University High School where he played for the varsity basketball team. In January 2002, Milwaukee County Sheriff Leverett F. Baldwin resigned midway through his term to take a pension payout. Clarke was one of ten applicants for the position, and Governor Scott McCallum appointed him on March 19, 2002. Master's thesis plagiarism In 2013, Clarke received a master's degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). In May 2017, CNN reported that Clarke had plagiarized portions of the thesis he completed as part of the requirements for this degree, stating that in the thesis, "Clarke failed to properly attribute his sources at least 47 times." The thesis ("Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible") was found to have lifted material verbatim from several sources without proper citation, including reports by the American Civil Liberties Union, the 9/11 Commission Report, and George W. Bush's memoir Decision Points. Clarke provided footnotes to sources that he used, but did not properly place quotations around verbatim words of his sources, which is an act of plagiarism according to the NPS. In response to the report, Clarke called journalist Andrew Kaczynski, who broke the story, a "sleaze bag" and denied that he had plagiarized. In a July 2017 letter to Clarke, NPS dean of students, Commander Paul Rasmussen, wrote that he concurred with the Honor Code Board that Clarke's thesis was "in violation" of the school's honor code but that the "violation was not a result of any intentional deception or misappropriation efforts". Rasmussen instructed Clarke to submit a revised thesis within 100 days or NPS would "initiate degree revocation". Clarke received several extensions on the original deadline before submitting his revised thesis in March 2018; NPS officials informed Clarke that his edits were satisfactory, and allowed him to retain his degree. == Political views==

Clarke has "built a following among conservatives with his provocative social media presence and strong support of Donald Trump". His prominence as a right-wing firebrand has made him a controversial and polarizing figure. Planned Parenthood He has criticized Planned Parenthood, suggesting instead that it be renamed "Planned Genocide". Comments on race In 2015, Clarke received criticism for his statement on his podcast: "Let me tell you why 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. That's why." In 2017, Clarke attracted attention and criticism for trading racial insults with Marc Lamont Hill, an African-American CNN commentator; on Twitter, Clarke used a racial slur ("jigaboo") to insult Hill. Black Lives Matter Clarke is a frequent and vociferous critic of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, referring to it as "Black Lies Matter" and describing the movement as a hate group. Clarke denies that police officers are more willing to shoot black suspects than white suspects, has labeled BLM activists "subhuman creeps", and has called for the targeted eradication of the movement "from American society". He has urged the Southern Poverty Law Center to include BLM among the hate groups it monitors. Clarke has blamed "liberal policies" for rioting and other issues in American cities. Clarke's stance on the movement has been criticized by the Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP and other activists. In 2015, Clarke traveled to Moscow on a $40,000 trip, with all expenses paid by the National Rifle Association of America, Pete Brownell (an NRA board member and CEO of a gun-parts supply company) and "The Right to Bear Arms", a Russian pro-firearms organization, founded by Maria Butina, a Russian national, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to being an unregistered Russian agent. During the meeting, Clarke met the Russian foreign minister and attended a conference at which Russian official Aleksander Torshin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, spoke. Suspension of habeas corpus in the United States Clarke has called for the suspension of habeas corpus in the United States in a December 2015 appearance on his radio program, where he asserted that there were "hundreds of thousands" or "maybe a million" people who "have pledged allegiance or are supporting ISIS, giving aid and comfort", and stated that "our commander in chief ought to utilize Article I, Section 9" to imprison them at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp "and hold them indefinitely under a suspension of habeas corpus". Ideology and relationships with Republican and Democratic parties After his appointment to the sheriff's post by McCallum, Clarke declared himself as Democrat, but refused to join the Wisconsin Democratic Party, instead promoting conservative views, and allying himself with Republican officials. Clarke frequently criticizes Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and other Democrats; often speaks at Republican events, and is allies with the National Rifle Association, which has raised funds for his re-election campaigns. In 2016, Maurice Chammah of The Marshall Project characterized Clarke as an "iconoclastic sheriff", one of "a long line of controversy-courting lawmen" that includes Richard Mack and Joe Arpaio in Arizona. Clarke attracted attention for "dalliances with the far right" over time including his acceptance in 2013 of the "Sheriff of the Year Award" from the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group of sheriffs founded by Mack that has been criticized by the Southern Poverty Law Center for espousing radical-right views. Earlier the same year, Clarke appeared for an interview on the syndicated show of Alex Jones. ==Sheriff of Milwaukee==

Budget and clashes with the Government of Milwaukee County Clarke has often clashed with the county government over the sheriff's office budget, engaging "in a long-running, high-profile tiff" over the issue with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, "with Clarke providing the more incendiary rhetoric". Abele's proposed budget for 2014 would cut $12 million from the Sheriff's Office budget, eliminating 69 jobs and "shifting park patrols, emergency management, 911 communications and training divisions" to other entities, such as the Milwaukee Police Department, suburban police departments, and the county Department of Emergency Preparedness. Abele described the budget as a way to refocus the sheriff's office on "core, mandated services". Clarke issued a statement calling Abele a "vindictive little man" and saying that "Abele should be drug-tested. He has to be on heroin or hallucinating with that statement." Abele responded by saying that it was "unfortunate the sheriff, instead of engaging in thoughtful civil discourse, is making personal attacks and making light of a serious problem in our community and state". On another occasion, Clarke said that Abele had "penis envy". In 2015, Clarke clashed with Abele again after Clarke filed a lawsuit against the county over the sheriff's budget, seeking $25 million in funds to hire 75 deputies, 43 House of Corrections officers and 17 supervisors. Clarke argued that his office is underfunded by the county, while Abele noted that the sheriff's office had received the largest increase of any county department and criticized Clarke for having what he termed "a very heavy command staff", "a lot of unnecessary overtime", and redundancies in courthouse security. Clarke sued Abele, alleging that he had violated Clarke's right to free speech through the budget process; a federal judge dismissed Clarke's suit in April 2016. A county audit released in 2012 showed that the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office used asset forfeiture funds to buy exercise equipment for Clarke's command staff, for a Disney training, and for a mounted patrol unit. The audit reported that the spending violated county procurement rules, although not federal rules on the use of seized money. Clarke was criticized for the amount of money spent on the mounted patrol by County Supervisor Patricia Jursik; Clarke defended the office's use of the funds. According to an Associated Press tally, from 2012 to April 2016, Clarke had incurred more than $310,000 in legal fees for his private attorney, who represented him in litigation against Milwaukee County. The order was criticized as excessive by critics, including county Supervisor John Weishan Jr. (who said there "was absolutely no reason to justify" the purchase) and the Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriffs Association president (who said that he would have preferred the sheriff's department to use funds to re-hire laid-off deputies rather than to replace weapons). but ultimately decided not to run, instead endorsing Republican Alderman Bob Donovan's unsuccessful bid to unseat Mayor Tom Barrett. House of Correction and detainee abuse controversies In January 2008, a National Institute of Corrections audit of the Milwaukee County House of Correction in Franklin identified 44 areas of concern, calling the House of Correction "dysfunctional" and determining that it suffered from "serious security, staff morale and management flaws". The House of Corrections was at the time a separate Milwaukee County department overseen by a superintendent who reported to then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. Walker and the County Board transferred control over the House to the Sheriff's Department under Clarke on January 1, 2009. Following the deaths of four inmates at the jail in six months, the United States Department of Justice launched an investigation of the jail. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Clarke also attracted attention for temper-related incidents: "He once berated a 911 dispatcher for not being professional, threatened to arrest the new House of Correction chief and called a sergeant a 'terrorist' and 'cancer' in a two-hour, expletive-filled rant". Later that day Clarke's office sent out a press release which stated it would be "withholding employee internal investigations and will not be commenting on this matter until the completion of all investigative and review processes, and any resultant civil litigation". Clarke did not comment publicly on his agency's handling of Thomas's incarceration, but has highlighted Thomas's poor physical health and criminal history. In May 2017, after hearing six days of testimony at an inquest, a Milwaukee County jury found probable cause that seven jail employees (two supervisors, five officers) had committed a crime—specifically, abuse of a resident of a penal facility—and recommended that charges be brought. In February 2018, three Milwaukee jail officers were charged with a felony in connection with Thomas's death. Clarke was not charged. District Attorney John T. Chisholm said "he believed his office had charged the people who were most culpable." In May 2019, Milwaukee County and the health care company Armor Correctional Health Services Inc. settled the lawsuit for $6.75 million, which is one of the largest settlements related to the death of an inmate in an American prison. Death of newborn and shackling of pregnant women Clarke's department came under fire for its use of restraints on pregnant women inmates. This controversial practice has been abolished or restricted by at least ten states and has been prohibited by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections as well as by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Criminal charges of sexual assault had been dropped against the guard after he pled no contest to lesser charges in 2014. In July 2016, a pregnant inmate at the jail with serious mental illness went into labor and the newborn baby died. The mother filed a federal lawsuit against the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, stating that she was denied medical attention before her pregnancy, had medical appointments canceled, received prenatal vitamins only once, and was "laughed at" by guards after going into labor. This death and others at the jail prompted calls for Clarke's resignation from a county supervisor and several Democratic state legislators. Airport harassment and abuse-of-power investigation and lawsuit In February 2017, a Detroit-area man, Dan Black, filed a harassment lawsuit against Clarke after Milwaukee deputies detained the man at the Milwaukee airport in January. The man had asked Clarke about his football team preference and shook his head at Clarke. On the tarmac, Clarke sent text messages to one of his captains, Mark Witek, directing sheriffs' deputies to detain Black. Clarke wrote: "Question for him is why he said anything to me. Why didn't he just keep his mouth shut? Follow him to baggage and out the door. You can escort me to carousel after I point him out." After arriving at the airport, Black was "met by a group of six uniformed deputies and two dogs, all of whom were accompanied by the sheriff" who questioned him before releasing him. Local media reported that "at least one of the deputies who was ordered to confront Black didn't believe he had been disruptive". The incident drew national attention, prompting federal investigations to examine Clarke's conduct. Approval ratings In a January 2017 poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, which surveyed Milwaukee County voters, 31% approved of the job Clarke was doing, compared to 62% who disapproved. In the same poll, 65% said they believed Clarke had a negative impact on the image of Milwaukee County, and among registered Democrats, 13% said they would vote for Clarke in a hypothetical Democratic primary, compared to 82% who would prefer another candidate. Donald Trump support and possible role in Trump administration Clarke is a strong supporter of Republican Donald Trump, saying during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign that he would "do everything I can" to help Trump win the presidency. Clarke spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. In October 2016, Clarke tweeted, "It's incredible that our institutions of gov, WH, Congress, DOJ, and big media are corrupt & all we do is bitch. Pitchforks and torches time." with an attached photo of an angry mob holding pitchforks and torches. Clarke met with Trump, when Trump was president-elect, about a possible position in his administration. In May 2017, Clarke said in a radio interview that he would take the post of Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Partnership and Engagement in the Trump administration. The White House declined to comment, and the Department of Homeland Security stated that no appointment had been officially made. The position does not require Senate confirmation. The DHS did not say whether the appointment was actually offered to Clarke. Following a CNN report on plagiarism in his master's thesis, Clarke said that he was unsure if the Trump administration would hire him. The prospective appointment of Clarke was criticized by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele; former Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem; and California Senator Kamala Harris, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Harris wrote that "Clarke's unconscionable record makes him unfit to serve" and that the "appointment is a disgrace". John F. Kelly, who had been the Secretary of Homeland Security at the time, told Clarke that he would not be given a position at the DHS in part due to scandal surrounding the treatment of inmates in Clarke's jail and the ensuing negative media attention. Conservative media commentary and absences from Milwaukee County Clarke "has become a fixture of conservative media" and in 2015 began hosting a podcast talk show, ''David Clarke: The People's Sheriff'', on Glenn Beck's TheBlaze Radio Network, where he has expressed support for the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Clarke also frequently appeared as a guest on Fox News, and on one occasion in September 2015 guest-hosted The Sean Hannity Show. He also appeared on CNN, Fox News, and other major news outlets to discuss ongoing police controversies. In 2015 financial disclosure documents, Clarke reported receiving $150,000 in speaking fees, travel reimbursements, gifts and other items; Also in 2016, Clarke spent about 60 days traveling or attending events, 59 of them outside Wisconsin. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has repeatedly criticized Clarke's absences from the county. Resignation as sheriff On August 31, 2017, Clarke resigned his position. Following his abrupt resignation, he received pension payments of more than $100,000 a year from Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. ==Career post-resignation==

A few days after his resignation as sheriff, it was announced that Clarke had joined pro-Donald Trump super PAC America First Action as a spokesman and senior advisor, where his role was to make regular appearances in the media, particularly on Fox News. The same year, Clarke published a book titled Cop Under Fire: Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime and Politics for a Better America, which Trump promoted on Twitter. America First Action paid Clarke's consulting firm, DAC Enterprises, almost $92,000 from September 2017 through July 2018, when the firm (a Maryland-based LLC) was dissolved. By that point, Clarke had reportedly been banned from Fox News (his last appearance on a Fox channel occurring in February 2018); Clarke repeatedly criticized Fox and praised the right-wing One America News Network. By early 2019, Clarke had also left his position with the Trump's America First Action super PAC; a Clarke staffer said that he had joined Brian Kolfage's and Steve Bannon's "We Build the Wall" group instead. Clarke participated in fundraiser for the group and was listed on its website as "sheriff" (although he had in fact resigned from that office). The fundraising effort was later revealed to be a scam, Kolfage and two other co-founders were convicted of fraud, while Bannon was pardoned by Trump before trial. Clarke was not charged or named in the indictment. In March 2020, Twitter deleted three of Clarke's posts for promoting disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. One of his tweets proclaimed that COVID-19 was "just the damn flu" while another called measures to prevent the spread of the virus "an orchestrated attempt to destroy capitalism". Clarke responded by labeling Twitter administrators "totalitarian bigots" and saying that he would join Parler instead. In 2020, after Trump was defeated in his bid for re-election, Clarke embraced Trump's false claims of election fraud. Days after Trump was defeated, Clarke headlined a Trump rally in Milwaukee, in which he called for the Proud Boys, a violent far-right group, to establish a chapter in Wisconsin. In a speech at a QAnon conference in Las Vegas in March 2021, Clarke critiqued the January 6 attack (in which a pro-Trump mob invaded the Capitol and disrupted the counting of the electoral votes in a failed attempt to keep Trump in power); Clarke said that the attack was a "frat party" and that a future insurrection must be "serious", "well-planned", and "disciplined". In 2021, Clarke launched a conservative advocacy nonprofit, Rise Up. in 2023, Clarke started a podcast, billing himself as "America's sheriff". The same year, he publicly mulled a potential run for U.S. Senate in 2024 for the seat currently held by Democrat Tammy Baldwin. ==Persona==

Clarke frequently appears at public events on horseback wearing a cowboy hat. ==Electoral history==

Clarke married his wife Julie in 1996; she was a court clerk and later a real estate agent. They lived on the northwest side of Milwaukee. In 2018, Clarke filed for divorce from his wife. Clarke has no children. In 2003, a profile in Milwaukee Magazine described Clarke as a "deeply religious" Catholic. ==Notes==