David Clarke, Milwaukee Sheriff And Trump Ally, May Join Homeland Security Amid Criticism

David Clarke, the sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, announced on Wednesday he will be taking up the position of assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, starting June. While criticism of his appointment began pouring in on social media, the DHS clarified it had made no such announcement yet.

"I'm both honored and humbled to be appointed to this position by Secretary [John F.] Kelly, working for the Trump administration," Clarke told WISN-AM.

While his statement could be seen as a confirmation of the fact that he has a job at Homeland Security, that is not the case. The department recognized the fact that a Senate confirmation is not mandatory for that particular position, but it also explicitly stated: “No such announcement with regard to the office of public engagement has been made."

Read: World War 3 Predictions: CPAC Panel With Sheriff David Clarke Suggests Fight Has Already Begun​

If Clarke’s appointment becomes official, he will work with state, local and tribal law enforcement in the DHS Office of Partnership and Engagement, starting June.

Clarke rose to prominence during President Donald Trump’s election campaign when he became well-known as a high-profile supporter of the Republican candidate. His recognition led to him being one of the very few African-American speakers at the Republican National Convention. He continues to defend the POTUS post-election as a cable news surrogate.

However, Clarke’s rhetoric and actions have raised quite a few eyebrows in the past. He called the Black Lives Matter movement “anarchy” and also equated his hatred toward the movement with his anti-Islamic sentiments.

“[The Black Lives Matter movement] will join forces with [the Islamic State] to bring down our legal constituted republic. You heard it here first," he said in November 2015, UPI reported.

Despite being African-American himself, Clarke has indulged in name-calling and racial slurs against his own community. He once called a CNN reporter, who is black, a “jigaboo.” He went on to make comments like: “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.”

Clarke has also been accused of badly managing a prison that he was supposed to be in charge of. People in Wisconsin called for his resignation when his lack of supervision led to the death of a mentally-ill inmate due to dehydration, whose water supply was cut off by the jailors for a week, Vox reported.

Three more deaths followed in the same jail between April and December 2016, which included an infant. Clarke wrote off the deaths as fake news, according to the UPI report.

His “tough on crime” policy includes supporting the “stop and frisk” program, calling for longer jail sentences for low-level drug offenders and tweeting stories about the crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Incidentally, if his appointment to the DHS is confirmed, he will be in the center of guiding and advising policy for one of Trump’s key agendas — tracking down and deporting unauthorized immigration in the United States.

People were quick to send out their less-than-happy reactions to the Clarke's statement.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said: "Our country deserves better.” He heavily criticized Clarke’s "gratuitous name calling, insults of other public officials, questioning judges' sentences," UPI reported.

California Sen. Kamala Harris had a similar reaction.

In the wake of Trump’s campaign members being investigated by the FBI for possible collusion with the Russians, people were also quick to point out that Clarke visited Moscow in December 2015, and met a Russian officer. The evidence of this fact is a picture of the two together that was tweeted by Clarke.