Community Leaders Express Outrage Over Law Enforcement Leadership’s Encouragement of Reckless, Hateful Policies
Albany, NY – Community groups, advocacy organizations, and local leaders joined outside the Albany Capital Center to protest the racist actions and hate speech of former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.
Clarke, whose tenure as Sheriff was marred by numerous controversies and human rights abuses, was invited by Chief Michael Lefancheck to be the keynote speaker at an event hosted by the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police (NYSACOP).
Major sponsors of the event included AT&T, CarFax, and LexisNexis. Community leaders are calling on these sponsors to withdraw their support from future NYSACOP events.
The event materials state that Clarke planned to speak on “the preparedness of law enforcement in political protests and riots, and the impact of criminal justice reform in an era that has seen the rise of domestic political extremism including from groups such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter.”
According to statistics from the United States General Accounting Office (GAO), there were 85 violent extremist attacks in the fifteen years following 9/11. Sixty-two of these were by far right extremists. None were committed by Black Lives Matter.
Jamaica Miles, Lead Organizer for Citizen Action of New York, said, “David Clarke is advocating for the terrorization of communities that are already overpoliced and overincarcerated. His authoritarian tactics have no place in New York–or anywhere in our country. We forcefully reject this cruel and dangerous brand of law enforcement.”
While serving as Sheriff of Milwaukee County, at least five people died while in custody in his jails. In one notable case, a mentally ill man was kept in solitary confinement with the water to his cell turned off for 8 days. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Clarke has also encouraged violence against journalists and reporters. Earlier this year he was suspended from Twitter for encouraging his followers to “punch them in the nose” and “make them taste their own blood.”
“Former Sheriff Clarke is a divisive man who panders to those in power by spewing false rhetoric about organizations, religions, and marginalized communities he knows nothing about. As a result, hate will remain at the forefront of policing in the State of New York,” said Black Lives Matter Hudson Valley. “Our rejection of New York’s state-sanctioned violence will continue through peaceful resistance–a tenet that all BLM chapters adhere and follow.”
“I stand arm-in-arm with our local elected leaders and our community leaders by letting the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police know that David Clarke and his policies are not consistent with the kind of community we are building in our city of inclusion, tolerance, and love for our diverse communities,” said Corey Ellis, Albany Common Council President.
“NYSASCOP choosing this individual as a speaker is counterproductive to all local efforts being made to improve relationships between law enforcement and communities of color,” said Marion Porterfield, Schenectady City Council Member.
“Sheriff Clarke promotes a racist ideology that penetrates our schools and hurts our children. Black and Brown youth are disproportionately harassed by police officers in their schools and in their communities. Parents, educators and students across New York are working to end the school-to-prison pipeline, and racial profiling by law enforcement,” said Jasmine Gripper, Legislative Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “We need the New York State Association of Police Chiefs to reject Clarke’s racist false narratives and stand with the communities that they are meant to protect.”
“We would all do well to remember the very real consequences of our words, especially when in a position of leadership. In my opinion, Mr. Clarke has either neglected his obligation or doesn’t care about the lives of those unfairly impacted by his divisive rhetoric,” said Damonni Farley, Schenectady Community Leader. “I don’t believe he should be the example presented to the women and men that protect and serve our communities.”
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