Trump-supporting sheriff likens himself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: report

The leader of the Constitutional Sheriff and Peace Officers Association compared his support of former President Donald Trump to civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during a recent event, Smokey Mountain News Kyle Perrotti reports.

"CSPOA is a law enforcement association that operates on the tenet that the sheriff is the highest authority in any county and has the right, even the duty, to reject any perceived intrusion by federal entities," Perrotti notes. "This has recently manifested in the group’s strong election denial and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories; at the event, several speakers and attendees swore noncompliance with any future mask or vaccine mandates and expressed total distrust of all public health organizations."

Retired Graham County, Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, "Dar Leaf, a Michigan sheriff who has proven a staunch ally," and United States Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina), Perrotti writes, "showed his adherence to their beliefs when a field representative called Mack's group 'trailblazers' and presented Mack with a citation."

Perrotti recalls that "in 1994, Mack gained instant popularity among far-right activists when he initiated a suit that would ultimately lead the US Supreme Court to overturn a provision in the Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1993, named after President Ronald Reagan's Press Secretary James Brady, who was severely wounded in an attempt on Reagan’s life in 1981. The provision required sheriffs like Mack to conduct background checks on firearms purchasers until the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) could be implemented, and Mack stood his ground when federal authorities sought to enforce it in his Arizona county."

At CSPOA's awards ceremony, radio talk show host Max Norton stated that "[President] Joe Biden is walking on the Constitution every day that we are alive, and it's ridiculous, adding, "A sitting president should not be abusing the Constitution." Norton also praised Trump on behalf of CSPOA, calling him "our salvation."

Mack in his address, Perrotti continues, "hit many of the beats the audience had hoped for — complaints about COVID mandates, election denial, fears of government overreach, scrutiny of perceived elitism in Washington, DC — and the crowd roared with applause each time."

Mack then compared his allegiance to Trump with MLK's fight for racial equality, claiming, "Martin Luther King didn't shy away from controversy. He stood strong. He endured over 30 arrests. I think we can stand for freedom a little bit and say, 'I'm going to stand strong like Martin Luther King and our founding fathers.'"