Milwaukee Co. Sheriff David Clarke, Jr. is fed up with America’s “corrupt institutions” and he tweeted on Saturday that it’s “pitchforks and torches time”:
It's incredible that our institutions of gov, WH, Congress, DOJ, and big media are corrupt & all we do is bitch. Pitchforks and torches time pic.twitter.com/8G5G0daGVN
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) October 15, 2016
As you might imagine, this didn’t sit well with the MSM…
MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin:
Trump supporter and Milwaukee Co. Sheriff David Clarke calls for violence against the government. https://t.co/7MkdgPwNGf
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 15, 2016
Guardian’s Mo Elleithee:
Stunning. This is head of a law enforcement agency actually inciting people to violence and urging them to riot. https://t.co/qLjEmE4rWi
— Mo Elleithee (@MoElleithee) October 15, 2016
Washington Post’s Philip Rucker:
The county sheriff of an American metropolis is calling for pitchforks –> https://t.co/LVwMvYM7f3
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 15, 2016
Politico’s Ben Schreckinger:
This man is frequently given a platform on national television https://t.co/ypcY4g6wjA
— Ben Schreckinger (@SchreckReports) October 15, 2016
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But is it really an incitement to riot? Lawyer Bradley Moss weighs in:
As vile as this tweet is, coming from a sheriff no less, no, it does not run afoul of Brandenburg or Hess. https://t.co/KzqxZNI2Mz
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) October 15, 2016
Sheriff Clarke promised a response to the outrage in a blog post on Monday:
Big Media @CBSNews @GuardianUS @ABCNews @CNN freak out over my pitchfork and torches tweet. See blog Mon https://t.co/9xk6XwTQud for comment pic.twitter.com/2GFRNFNWpW
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) October 16, 2016
And he joked that the MSM would fact-check pitchfork and torch sales at Home Depot:
Just heard from a friend that there has been a run on pitchforks and tiki lamp oil at Home Depot! Watch Big Media start calling Home Depots!
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) October 16, 2016
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