In recent months, a group of self-proclaimed "constitutional sheriffs" in Washington state has . Less than 34% of the $2.6 million Iowans have donated to an Iowa sheriffs' group in recent years has been used for the stated purpose of . along with Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney and others, opposed to the Obama administrations gun initiatives, unfounded conspiracies about the 2020 election, is part of the constitutional sheriffs movement, Employees describe culture of retaliation under Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, Klickitat Countys sheriff contracted COVID, but still plans to fight pandemic restrictions. Kittitas County Sheriff Clay Myers is the current president of the Washington State Sheriffs Association. It is estimated that movement has about 10,000 supporters, including 3,000 sheriffs. Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer is a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a far-right, anti-government group that wrongly . The fringe ideology of "constitutional sheriffs" is attracting believers within Texas law enforcement. Listen to the Story, Saving Skagit County. and the United States, the mission of the Washington State When the group of Washington sheriffs defied the state gun laws in 2019, Gov. These few, vocal sheriffs who have gone a little bit rogue are very concerning, she said. Songer, along with Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney and others, refused to enforce state COVID mandates. 1 goal is to protect and serve and enforce the laws of the state, Morrison said. "It's dangerous because it shows an extreme bias by the sheriffs of Washington state in favor of Second Amendment rights . More sheriffs may become radicalized because of the number of constitutional sheriffs and antigovernment groups intent on evangelizing to sheriffs about constitutional sheriff and conspiracy theory ideologies, which are often related. Thousands violate unconstitutional Washington state gun law. (Scott said reform talks had collapsed because Democrats supported defunding the police, but the FOP and International Association of Chiefs of Police publicly disputed that characterization.) Posse Comitatus founder William Potter Gale was a self-ordained minister who called on sheriffs to supersede federal agencies and serve as quasi-vigilantes, primarily to resist school desegregation. Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer has in recent years embodied the Constitutional Sheriff movement. Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer is a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a far-right, anti-government group that wrongly asserts a sheriffs power supersedes that of state and federal authority. The Constitutional Sheriff spans this chasm between you and the miscreants that would rob you of these inalienable rights. And with . A campaign manager for Clark County sheriff candidate Rey Reynolds responded to InvestigateWests questions with a letter to the editor Reynolds wrote to a local paper in which he said, the sheriff is the ultimate law enforcement authority in a county. The campaign did not respond to follow-up questions aiming to clarify whether he believes sheriffs power supersedes state and federal officials. Constitutionalist sheriffs in charge: Constitutionalist sheriffs believe that the Constitution appoints sheriffs as the ultimate law enforcement authority, even above the federal government.The . More recently, Mack and the association have been focused on resisting COVID mandates and encouraging sheriffs to investigate unfounded conspiracies about the 2020 election. I dont care if its George Washington himself, they cannot tell us what to do., The group justifies this by declaring that constitutional sheriffs are upholding and defending the constitution.. Whereas Supreme Court justices are often fervent legal scholars, the Montgomery County, Texas, sheriffs office, which held a constitutional sheriff event in February 2021, requires their sheriff to be: There is no requirement that a sheriff reads or understands the Constitution. You get the latest CSPOA updates & access more training to know your rights! Mack told the Washington Post that about 300 of the nation's 3,000 sheriffs belong to the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Sheriffs across the state are predictably opposed to such a move, but even those most concerned with rogue constitutional sheriffs dont love that idea. challenge from the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation as evidence that the laws may not be constitutional, and are . The constitutional sheriff movement has its roots in the . One morning last year, around 60 sheriffs and . Theyve sort of cobbled together this theory based on authorities that dont really do what theyre claiming that they do.. State v. Melton, supra. Follow our team of columnists and reporters who write about the media. While the county sheriff is obligated to investigate alleged violations of the law, the prosecuting attorney has no authority to compel any action by the sheriff. You can hear constitutional sheriff rhetoric in a number of incumbent candidates in states such as Washington, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. They Just Proposed an Extreme Ban. If they are going to start shooting, its going to be women that are going to be televised all across the world getting shot by these rogue federal officers., In 2018, Mack attended RidersUSAs fifth annual Second Amendment event. Never been convicted of a felony (with a few caveats). Supporter of Constitutional Sheriffs Article 11, 5 of Washington State. Already, 2020 election deniers are recruiting county sheriffs to more closely watch over future elections. He was a major funder of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's political career and other religious-right efforts. As Mack tells it, he said the federal Government could not tell him what to do; that they were not his boss.. Since then, the so-called "constitutional sheriff" movement has grown in Washington and other . This included Red Pill Expo, a whos who of antigovernment figures hosted by well-known conspiracy theorist G. Edward Griffin, a QAnon sovereign citizen rally in Hawaii, the Rod of Iron Ministries Freedom Festival and the Arise USA tour, hosted by the late antisemitic conspiracy theorist Robert David Steele where Mack was a speaker and CSPOAs name was emblazoned on the side of the tour bus. SHERIFFS, PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS - DUTIES AND POWERS. And here in Washington state, weve got some bad guys in government.. . Four years ago, many of Washington states sheriffs were unhappy with a voter-approved gun safety law that required stronger background checks and raised the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle. "As an elected sheriff and a constitutional sheriff, I believe it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," he says, "and, more specifically, violates the Washington state . Thousands violate unconstitutional Washington state gun law. InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is a political organization of local police officials in the United States who contend that federal and state government authorities are subordinate to the local authority of county sheriffs.Self-described constitutional sheriffs assert that they are the supreme legal authority with the power and duty to defy or disregard laws . This article was published more than1 year ago. To better This posse comitatus based rallying cry continues to be the primary theme that permeates the ideology of CSPOA and other constitutional sheriffs across America. Not only did it get him on far-right conspiracist Alex Jones show, but his stance caught the attention of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a far-right, anti-government group that wrongly asserts a sheriffs power supersedes that of state and federal authority. 1125 Washington St SE PO Box 40100 Olympia, WA 98504 (360) 753-6200 the provisions of particular statutes; (5) Shall attend the sessions of the courts of record held within the county, and obey their lawful orders or directions; (6) Shall keep and preserve the peace in their respective counties, and quiet and suppress all affrays, riots, unlawful assemblies and insurrections, for which purpose, and for the service of process in civil or criminal cases, and in apprehending or securing any person for felony or breach of the peace, they may call to their aid such persons, or power of their county as they may deem necessary. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Bhattacharyya said the worst-case scenario would be if these sheriffs are emboldened to meddle with the elections process. In answer to your second question, it appears that a county prosecutor has no authority to compel any act by the sheriff. But a Spokane civil rights attorney is concerned the letter suggests sheriffs have powers beyond their roles as local law enforcers. The Center for Public Integrity reported five years ago that Mack had already trained more than 400 sheriffs in how to interpret the Constitution and how to resist authorities and laws that violate it. These numbers are almost certainly higher now and rising: Mack has continued to train, and both Montana and Texas this year approved official training events, led by Mack, to teach constitutional sheriff tenets to law enforcement personnel. I dont think thats the right tool, Burghart said. Gales views, some parroted by Beach, grew in popularity among white supremacists, tax protesters and aggrieved citizens, such as farmers in the Midwest who faced significant financial crisis in the 1980s. A similar result was reached in State v. Reichman, 135 Tenn. 685, 188 S.W. it has always been accorded with great dignity and high trust" WA Democrats hid messages on Chinese American History Month bill, Out & Back: A Portland club counters the racism of runnings hometown, Parasites are vanishing from WA waters. A far-right "Constitutional Sheriffs" group has partnered with a vicious antisemite on the Arise USA bus tour to find recruits and woo county sheriffs. Your guarantee of this protection is insured by his oath to uphold the Constitution of our nation and state. The protection of these rights come under the jurisdiction of the county Constitutional Sheriff. They announced they would defy the new gun laws because, in their interpretation, it violated the U.S. Constitution. The oath that sheriffs take is not unique. 36.28.011 Of course, if the situation should arise in which a sheriff had committed a misdemeanor such as set out in RCW 36.28.140, or misconduct as set out in chapter 42.20 RCW, it would then become the duty of the county prosecuting attorney to prosecute the action in behalf of the county and the state, but this authority can be exercised only in respect to prior action or inaction of the sheriff and cannot be used prospectively to move the sheriff to any action. Some Sheriff's Candidates Run on Not Enforcing Certain Laws. The Constitutional Sheriff is a judicial officer, that "shall be elected by the qualified voters of their respective counties for a term of four years and shall have such qualifications . Wildlife. And the actions he took in recent years are similar to Songers: Burnett said he wouldnt be investigating crimes related to Washingtons new gun laws and he announced he wouldnt enforce COVID-19 masking rules and other mandates. The Sheriffs of Washington are elected and are constitutional officers "In my 30 years in law enforcement, I have never seen a bill passed like this, and signed into law that was on his face, so unconstitutional." Sheriffs have a lot of power, but ruling a law . Page3]] the sheriff represents the sovereignty of the state and he has no superior in his county. Still, mainstream is a relative term: Thirteen sheriffs in Scotts 46-county home state have been convicted of criminal charges in the past 11 years, and one of the National Sheriffs Associations new executive members, Chris West of Oklahoma, was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. (by CSPOA on Dec 17, 2014) The New American reports: Local media in Olympia, Washington, covered Gavin Seims We Will. Your guarantee of this protection is insured by his oath to uphold the Constitution of our nation and state. The Anti-Defamation League considers the organization an anti-government extremist group., Songer has been a prominent voice for Macks group after Mack celebrated his stance on Washingtons gun laws. Sheriffs in a dozen Washington counties say they won't enforce the state's sweeping new restrictions on semi-automatic rifles until the courts decide whether they are constitutional. Whenever a state legislature passes overreaching violations of their constituents' civil liberties, or the federal government attempts to impose unconstitutional gun laws, there is a Constitutional Sheriff who can stand in their way. They were also pivotal to the formation of the modern constitutional sheriff, militia and sovereign citizen movements, all of whom distrust or detest the government. One is that county government should have control of all the land within its borders, taking this power away from the state and federal government. Enter Your Email Address To Get Exclusive Updates Directly From Sheriff Mack! Songer, along with Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney and others, refused to enforce state COVID mandates. 322. The spread of the "constitutional sheriffs" movementwhich claims that local county sheriffs are the supreme law of the land, capable of overruling federal and state laws, as well as prohibiting federal and state agencies from enforcing themthroughout rural American sheriff's offices has often seemed like a quaint but localized problem: Sure, having set themselves up as laws unto . Constitutional Sheriff Scott Jenkins of Culpeper, Virginia, said he would deputize the citizens in his county if gun control laws were passed. If the intruder trespasses into this county, they shall be arrested and arraigned. Thirteen sheriffs, however, went a step beyond merely expressing their displeasure. To be a unified voice addressing local, state, and He considers Randy Weaver a friend, asserting that Weaver is not a bigot, just a separatist in a way who does not believe in interracial marriage. Lamb was also a confirmed speaker at sovereign citizen group RidersUSAs seventh annual Second Amendment event, which was held in Phoenix, Arizona, on Feb. 15, 2020. RCW Gale promoted the formation of citizens militias, making the claim that all healthy men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five who were not in the military could be mobilized into a posse comitatus to redress their grievances, according to the book Aryan Cowboys: White Supremacists and the Search for a New Frontier, 1970-2000. It appears that, as one state official told me, the Virginia lawmakers just did not want to take on a political battle with sheriffs known to be a combative bunch. 1 goal is to protect and serve and enforce the laws of the state, Morrison said. Mack was so heavily influenced by the events at Ruby Ridge that he contributed to a book written by Randy Weaver, the white supremacist who provoked the standoff with the government. King County recently made the sheriff an appointed position instead of an elected one. One of Southwest Washingtons most vocal opponents to pandemic restrictions recently contracted COVID-19, was hospitalized and continues to rely on oxygen. Nearly half of those surveyed by The Marshall Project said they believe their power outranks the government's. Phone: (360) 486-2380 FAX: (360) 486-2381. The job of this specific sheriff is to protect your personal rights against all foreign and domestic threats. When asked why he believes he has authority to enforce laws based on his own reading of the Constitution, Songer points to his oath of office to uphold the U.S. and state constitutions. By subscribing, you agree to receive occasional membership emails from Crosscut/Cascade Public Media. That many sheriffs believe they have that power concerns people like Rupa Bhattacharyya, special litigation counsel for the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection within Georgetown University Law Center. Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer is a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a far-right, anti-government group that wrongly asserts a sheriffs power supersedes that of state and federal authority. Any arguments that these sheriffs have regarding state or local . This statement was voted on and approved by a majority of the sheriffs in the . 398 (1941), states that the duty of a sheriff requires initiative on his part; that he must be reasonably alert with respect to possible violations of the law and is not entitled to wait until they come to his personal knowledge, but must follow up information received from any source. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan were actually attempting a legal citizens arrest, claimed in the post that the Posse and Militia have more lawful character than the agencies that have recently arrested the Militia. Leaf is also associated with the sovereign citizen National Liberty Alliance. Jay Inslee because it is "inconsistent with Article I, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution. Bhattacharyya, too, has mixed feelings about appointed sheriffs. Elected sheriffs are accountable directly to the Constitution (United States and Washington state, in this case) and to the people. Wilson Criscione, born and raised in Spokane, writes for InvestigateWest. Multiple county sheriffs wrote the language for or publicly supported these laws. Higley, AZ, SPLC is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization (EIN: 63-0598743), Local Policing and Immigration Enforcement, Request for Legal Assistance Economic Justice, mass shooting at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, openly defied his governors stay-at-home orders, were actually attempting a legal citizens arrest, antisemitic conspiracy theorist Robert David Steele. Some 50 Texas sheriffs and numerous elected officials have attended trainings on the . Out of 39 counties in Washington, 17 current sheriffs endorsed Songer. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, spells out this tenet on its website. The AGs office did not return a message seeking comment for this article. Michael Peroutka, a neo-Confederate, Christian Reconstructionist anti-LGBTQ activist who was the Constitution Party's presidential candidate in 2004. Around the same time, county officials began passing Second Amendment sanctuary legislation, most of which affirmed that additional state and federal gun control laws would not be enforced by the county. At some point if you end up with a corrupt government, if somebody is doing something that you believe is not constitutional, thats where the sheriff has not just the right, but a duty to intervene and uphold those laws, Burnett said in an interview. The group has an advisory board with a host of constitutional sheriffs. Some of the sheriffs who declined to enforce these laws are constitutional sheriffs. 3060 Willamette Drive, NE #200. Other sheriffs, however, took a strong stance against the idea that sheriffs have unilateral authority when reached by InvestigateWest. I think its a decision that communities have to make on their own, she said. By SHANNON NAJMABADI, The Colorado Sun. To provide a centralized body through which prompt In 2021, Mack went on the ARISE USA Tour hosted by late antisemitic conspiracy theorist Robert David Steele. Songer, along with Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney and others, refused to enforce state COVID mandates. In that time, the sheriffs own employees have filed at least 25 complaints against him and the office, portraying a law enforcement agency where women are sidelined and intimidation is routine. THIS SHALL NOT BE TOLERATED IN SKAGIT COUNTY, https://www.facebook.com/groups/398181945263311/, Elect Kevin Ewing For Constitutional Sheriff of Skagit County. Bhattacharyya said the worst case scenario would be if these sheriffs are emboldened to meddle with the elections process. She/he is elected to safeguard the rights of the people and exercise the powers that the public has entrusted to him or her. But legislators caved to Virginia Sheriffs Association assertions that the new oversight could not apply to sheriffs because sheriffs are elected constitutional officers.. Every believer in democracy should find it chilling that the CSPOA counts several hundred sheriffs as dues-paying members and hundreds of other sheriffs as supporters. Take the example of Virginia, where in 2020 the state legislature passed a law allowing local governments to establish civilian oversight of police departments. serve and protect the people of Washington State, and to Collins dressed as George Washington for the training. issues of mutual concern. InvestigateWest. a one-time candidate for Dallas County sheriff, is the Texas State Director . Other Washington sheriffs and candidates have similar beliefs, even if they arent members of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association like Songer. Leaf, who has been openly friendly to militia in the past and questioned whether the men charged with kidnapping Gov. It is a federal crime for politician to compromise their oath or sells your unalienable rights or freedom for monetary gain. Its origins are in the American county supremacy movement, which includes two concepts that often work in tandem. In addition to the duties contained in RCW 36.28.010, it . Instead, hed rather educate the public about what he calls the far-right agenda and hope voters make the right decision. Not partially or totally mentally incapacitated. In 2014, Mack participated in the Bundy standoff against the U.S. government, in Bunkerville, Nevada, alongside his fellow Oath Keepers and additional militias. The sheriff is the chief executive officer and conservator of the peace of the county. Despite their effort to usurp the role of the Supreme Court, Mack has spent many hours praising the court for its decision in the case Printz v. 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