Controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has accepted a position as an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, he announced Wednesday in an interview with 1130 WISN Radio. "I'm both honored and humbled to be appointed to this position by [DHS Secretary John Kelly], working for the Trump administration in this position," Clarke reportedly said. He will reportedly assume the job in June; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted the position "does not require Senate confirmation."
Clarke, a registered Democrat but a fervent Trump surrogate, has made quite a name for himself in his four terms as sheriff. He is currently facing a lawsuit over an inmate's death in his jail from "profound dehydration," after the prisoner's pleas for water were ignored for days; a medical examiner classified the death as a homicide. Clarke has also made headlines for suggesting Black Lives Matter should be labeled as a "hate group"; proposing "putting an assault rifle in the talons of the bald eagle on the U.S. national seal"; and refusing to disclose details of a trip he took to Moscow in 2015 on behalf of the National Rifle Association.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Clarke will work in the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Partnership and Engagement as "a liaison with state, local, and tribal law enforcement and governments." Clarke also said he plans to advocate for his local law enforcement counterparts who "feel like they're being ignored." Becca Stanek
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Update 5:15 p.m. ET: The Department of Homeland Security clarified on its official Twitter account that announcements are only official when announced by DHS, and DHS has made "no such announcement."
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