David Clarke, the Milwaukee County sheriff who’s made a name for himself with blunt-talk and common-sense opining, told “Fox & Friends” on Friday that the nation will be better able to breathe easy when Attorney General Eric Holder departs — that the country can’t get him out the door quickly enough.
His words, while responding to questions about Mr. Holder’s announced intent to sue Ferguson, Missouri, for race discrimination over the 2014 police shooting of teen Michael Brown: “Well, it’s more of the same from Eric Holder. Look, this is an abuse of power. Eric Holder has gone 15 for 15 in terms of indicting police departments of some sort of wrongdoing.”
Sheriff Clarke also said the federal intervention in Ferguson “doesn’t pass the smell test” and has all the markings of a political witch hunt — especially since the Department of Justice isn’t going after former Officer Darren Wilson, who was released from any type of prosecutorial allegations after a grand jury found he acted in self-defense when he shot Brown.
“But Eric Holder … [is] still going to try to extract his pound of flesh,” Sheriff Clarke said. “That’s typical politics of Eric Holder and the United States Department of Justice, at least under his tenure. You know, we can’t get this guy out the door soon enough.”
Sheriff Clarke said problems involving Ferguson’s police should be discussed at the local level — that the federal government by and large should keep its nose out of all community police departments’ business.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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