Cop Under Fire

by David Clarke

  Praise for Cop Under Fire

  “Sheriff David Clarke has truly moved beyond race and politics, which allows him to look through the reality prism of crime in America. He is an ‘America First’ law enforcement officer and one of the finest and stalwart gentlemen I’ve ever met. Sheriff Clarke understands our Constitution and knows what to do to restore civility to our country. Respect for the law and its enforcement is his badge of honor. Every citizen must read this book!”

  —Paul E. Vallely, Major General, US Army (Ret)

  Chairman, Stand Up America/Glacial Forum,

  Chairman, Legacy National Security Advisory Group,

  and Chairman, Syrian Liaison Group

  “At a time when too many leaders value political correctness above honest discussion, Sheriff David Clarke provides a much-needed voice of reason in tackling America’s challenges. He speaks his mind, and his no-nonsense approach to law and order is exactly what we need to make our country safer. Clarke knows that criminals commit crimes—not guns. His commitment to protecting law-abiding gun owners while getting criminals off the street is a model for all leaders.”

  —Chris W. Cox

  Executive Director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action

  “Sheriff David Clarke is an American hero, and a powerful voice against the racist radicals who have declared war on our police. Sheriff Clarke understands the radical nature of this movement and the threat it poses to the frontline defenders of our communities, and especially our inner-city communities. We owe him a debt of gratitude for standing up to the haters and destroyers, and for speaking the truth. We owe it to ourselves to read this brave book and arm ourselves for the battles ahead.”

  —David Horowitz

  Author, Political Analyst, and

  Founder of the David Horowitz Freedom Center

  “The media and political establishment in my community is obsessed with silencing Sheriff David Clarke because his message threatens their culture of entitlement, excuse making, and race hustling. Sheriff Clarke doesn’t back down because the people have his back. Even in a predominantly liberal community, his message of law and order, accountability, and self-empowerment resonates. He is one of America’s most important cultural voices.

  —Mark Belling

  Talk Radio Host for 1130 WISN-AM in Milwaukee and

  Columnist for Newspapers Including the Milwaukee Post

  “At a time when America seems to have lost its way, Sheriff David Clarke offers critically important leadership, both as one of the nation’s top cops and as a much-needed public truth teller. His no-nonsense approach to law enforcement and unwavering sense of moral clarity are invaluable as we begin to restore our foundational principles and bring this exceptional nation back to full strength. A must-read.”

  —Monica Crowley, Ph.D.

  Fox News Channel,

  The Washington Times

  “If you have already encountered David Clarke in action—whether knocking the stuffing out of a supercilious TV news anchor or delivering a clarion defense of law and order at the Republican National Convention—you will feel right at home with this rousing survey of the present American scene. If, however, this is your first—and, sadly, belated—exposure to Sheriff Clarke, be prepared for the ride of your life. Clarke is a unique voice today: fearless in his contempt for political correctness and eloquent in his articulation of core American values. There is no more influential spokesman for the police; he has fought back relentlessly against the dangerous lies spread by the Black Lives Matter movement. In Cop Under Fire, Clarke takes on the social destruction wrought by the liberal crusade against personal responsibility. He movingly recounts his disciplined upbringing, providing a model of the only solution to urban dysfunction that can possibly succeed: committed, responsible parents. Clarke’s clashes with the Democratic political machine in Milwaukee are a lesson in true democratic values, based on responsiveness to public needs. One can only hope that the fortuitous timing of Cop Under Fire, coming as the country embarks on a radically new presidential administration, is a sign that the era of delusional victimology and identity politics is coming to an end.”

  —Heather Mac Donald

  Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Author of The War on Cops

  “My mother once told me, ‘Someday, everybody has to sit on their own bottom.’ That’s a message Sheriff Clarke addresses so personally and eloquently with this book. If America listens and learns, we’ll be a better nation for it, and certainly a more united one.”

  —T. Boone Pickens

  Chairman/CEO of BP Capital

  “I have had the pleasure of getting to know Sheriff David Clarke over the past twelve months. Over this short time period, Sheriff Clarke has shown that he is a man of tremendous character who exemplifies honesty and integrity. His beliefs are based not only in academia but also real-world, personal experiences, which makes his words invaluable. He does not put political affiliation, race, or gender before his patriotism for the great nation—this in itself gives him immense credibility and exemplifies leadership. I implore all to read Cop Under Fire, because Sheriff Clarke’s personal first-hand experiences will provide all with a better example of racism, its causes, and how the liberal Left continues to use it for their agenda at the expense of police officers’ lives. Sheriff Clarke is a tremendous leader, follower, and a strong voice of reason who needs to be heard by all!”

  —Kris “Tanto” Paronto

  Former Ranger (2nd Battalion, 75th Regiment),

  Security and Military Consultant, and

  Hero of Benghazi Attack

  “Cop Under Fire is a revealing narrative by an experienced law enforcement officer who understands both the cultural clashes that are occurring in American society and the public safety concerns of the average, hard-working, law-abiding American—no matter their color. Sheriff Clarke’s rejection of the identity politics that are being used to divide our nation and his dedication to telling the truth makes him the kind of honorable, principled public official we see all too little of these days.”

  —Hans A. von Spakovsky

  Senior Legal Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, and Former U.S. Justice Department Official

  COP UNDER

  FIRE

  MOVING BEYOND HASHTAGS OF RACE, CRIME & POLITICS

  FOR A BETTER AMERICA

  SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE JR.

  WITH NANCY FRENCH

  Copyright © 2017 by David A. Clarke Jr.

  Published by Worthy Books, an imprint of Worthy Publishing Group, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., One Franklin Park, 6100 Tower Circle, Suite 210, Franklin, TN 37067.

  WORTHY is a registered trademark of Worthy Media, Inc.

  HELPING PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF GOD

  eBook available wherever digital books are sold.

  Audiobook available from Oasis Audio.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961620

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain. | Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ | Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) | Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Cover photo: Sheriff David Clarke speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. It is attributed to Gage Skidmore, and the original version can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/24951347433/.

  Author photo: Barry Morgenstein Photography, www.BarryMorgenstein.com

  For foreign and subsidiary rights, contact rights@worthypublishing.com

  Published in association with the literary agency of Legacy LLC, Winter Park, Florida 32789.

  ISBN: 978-1617958571 (hardcover)

  Printed in the United States of America

  17 18 19 20 21 LBM 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  To the men and women who are privileged to wear the badge and uniform of their local community and, while serving and protecting, put themselves in harm’s way … and to the proud profession of policing that has been a part of my life for nearly four decades.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword by Sean Hannity

  1. From Rebellion to Respect for the Badge

  2. Political Shakedown: Give Me Your $29 or Else

  3. I’m Color-Blind When It Comes to Crime and Punishment

  4. Guess What? Prison Is Supposed to Be Unpleasant

  5. American Education Embraces and Enforces Poverty

  6. How Lies Turned Isolated Deaths into National Scandals

  7. Black Lives Matter Less to BLM than Lies & Leftist Politics

  8. A Hate Group’s Battle Cry: #BlackLivesMatter

  9. The Second Amendment Isn’t Just for White People

  10. Changing the Culture Is a Matter of Faith, Not Politics

  11. God Is Not the Enemy, but He’s Being Attacked

  12. Homeland Security Equals Personal Security

  13. The TSA Is Whistling Past the Graveyard

  14. The Left’s Dreaded Enemy: Black Conservatives

  15. Convention of States: The Next American Revolution

  16. War Has Been Declared on the American Police Officer

  Acknowledgments

  Notes

  FOREWORD

  by Sean Hannity

  I FIRST MET SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE when he came on my show to talk politics, but I immediately knew he wasn’t like many of the other conservatives I’d ever met. Sheriff Clarke, with this cowboy hat and boots, doesn’t look like your typical Wisconsin resident. In fact, he looks like a sheriff out of an old wild west movie. He’s a man with honor and courage, values that are more common in those old films than in pop culture these days.

  That’s why I love Cop Under Fire: Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime, and Politics for a Better America. It’s about a man from the Milwaukee projects who thrived amidst challenging circumstances, who overcame racial politics in the police department, and who rose to the office of Milwaukee County Sheriff. It’s about a man who dared to call out America’s first black president for his lies, corruption, and disregard for the constitutional process. It’s about a man who runs and was elected as a Democrat, but instead of buying into the modern liberalism dogma of the Left, he chooses to live by his principles and force the Democrat Party to excommunicate him if they don’t like it.

  David Clarke refuses to bow a knee to political correctness, and he refuses to give his party over to the kinds of black activists whose policies would destroy America. That’s why I have Sheriff Clarke on my show so frequently: he says things you need to hear. Some viewers don’t like his straightforward approach, thinking that he’s too blunt or not sufficiently “tolerant.” In fact, some of my colleagues at Fox have said he is too controversial. But I keep inviting him back because he says important things, usually, in the most memorable way possible.

  Apparently, America agrees with me: it’s time for some straight talk.

  I think Sheriff Clarke makes people uneasy because he defies easy categorization. He’s black, but he’s against Black Lives Matter. He ran as a Democrat in Milwaukee, but he spoke at the Republican National Convention. He’s from an urban area but he’s more conservative than an Alabama tea party member. It’s easier for people to stereotype than to deal with the actual man and his actual beliefs. That’s why you hear people criticizing the man but rarely criticizing the substance of his arguments.

  That’s why I like the guy. As many of you know, I was born in New York City. I’ve also raised eyebrows by saying that I’m a “registered Conservative” and not a Republican—though people often mistake me for one. While some people believe that “conservatism” only thrives in rural areas, I love seeing people like Sheriff Clarke who hails from an area not typically known for producing conservatives. Isn’t it time to think beyond the old categories of Republicans and Democrats? People who live in the real, complicated world tend to learn really fast what works and what doesn’t—no matter where they live or what color their skin. And reality teaches lessons in conservatism.

  For Sheriff Clarke, those lessons have been hard won.

  Remember when the election of Barack Obama was supposed to signal the end of race issues in America? Well, that hasn’t happened, has it—and some bad racial moments have happened in Milwaukee. In spite of President Obama’s eight-year term—or maybe because of it—this nation is more divided than ever on issues of color. How we can rise above our current division to once again be a truly united people in pursuit of liberty and justice for all?

  In this book, Sheriff Clarke writes about the lessons he’s learned over the course of his thirty-eight years of law enforcement and shows once again that he’s a true American. He writes about how his traditional upbringing in the housing projects of Milwaukee improbably molded him into the cowboy-hat-and-boot-wearing sheriff we know and love today. He tells about why he recorded a public service announcement in 2013 in which he told residents of his county that they needed to play a role in defending themselves and their families, explaining that self-protection is not something to be outsourced to the government and encouraging citizens to consider taking a firearm safety course. This caused liberals all over America to foam at the mouth, even though the Second Amendment has been alive and well since it was ratified in 1791.

  He also reveals the hard, ugly truth behind “Black LIES Matter” (as he likes to call them), which will forever change the way you look at this nefarious political movement. In one particularly chilling chapter, he explains why he thinks this movement should be called a terrorist organization … and I defy you to disagree once you hear his reasoning.

  But this book is not all gloom and doom, focusing on how bad things are in this nation. To the contrary, Sheriff Clarke presents interesting solutions to problems that have plagued us for decades. He even explains how “we the people” can wrest power away from a federal government too eager to wield its authority and bully anyone with whom they disagree politically. Plus, he talks about a constitutional solution to government overreach that should make both liberals and conservatives happy.

  Here’s the truth: the principles Sheriff Clarke stands for are the same principles this nation was built on. He’s much more than the Milwaukee County Sheriff. He’s America’s Sheriff … and Cop Under Fire is must-reading for people who love this great country. In Obama’s “post-racial” society, this is the kind of leadership we have lacked but so desperately need. I always say this guy should run for president. In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to settle for this book—the right book about race for these racially confusing times.

  1

  Fro
m Rebellion to Respect for the Badge

  AS THE SQUAD CAR ROLLED PAST our house just outside the projects of Milwaukee one summer afternoon, I clenched my hand into a tight fist. My friends and I had been hanging out in the front yard, and I was in a rebellious mood.

  It was 1969. The previous year, it seemed our nation was changing at breakneck speed. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis; Robert Kennedy was murdered in Los Angeles; Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon; fictional Star Trek character Enterprise Capt. James Kirk kissed Lt. Nyota Uhura in America’s first televised interracial kiss; and riots broke out at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Also, two black American athletes made history at the summer Olympics after winning gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter race. As our national anthem played, Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the podium, shocking the world with heads bowed and black-gloved fists raised high in the air to protest discrimination against black people back home. As they left the podium, the crowd booed, but Smith didn’t back down. “We are black, and we are proud of being black,” he said. “Black America will understand what we did tonight.”

  We did.

  Watching those Olympic Games about two thousand miles away in Milwaukee, we knew inherently that there was something wrong with America. The raised fist had become the universal symbol of black solidarity. That’s why, when the police car got in front of my house at 39th and Kaul Avenue, I thrust my fist into the air and planted my feet into the ground.

  Black pride. Black power. You aren’t welcome here, my raised fist conveyed to the police officers.

  At least that’s what I wanted them to understand. The cops apparently didn’t get the message. Instead of being intimidated, they suddenly stopped their car. Two officers got out and began walking over to me. The grins on my friends’ faces faded. Out of respect, I lowered my arm, walked to the policemen, and looked down at my shoes. But just as the police began to open their mouths to question me, my worst nightmare came true.