# Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke harasses, threatens Packer fan. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636 "2017-01-20T16:31:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/21 "2017-01-20T18:33:21Z")
Regardless of what did or didn’t happen on that airplane, the responses via their Facebook page are beyond the pale and indefensible. Though I’m sure some Trumpers will be by shortly to try. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/22 "2017-01-20T18:34:12Z")
We really need to get **Bricker** a _Legal! And Constitutional!_ smilie, save the poor old soul all that typing. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/23 "2017-01-20T18:46:20Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It depends on what happened. If Black elided from his account important facts that change the meaning of the confrontation on the plane, I suppose the sheriff’s office may have thought that **using social media to send a response** was tit-for-tat. > > You may believe that the citizen is free to trash talk on social media but the sheriff is not. I’m not sure there’s any legal relevance to that view. (emphasis added) Do you really think that using the Sheriff’s official Facebook page was appropriate for these responses? If it was Clarke’s personal page, such a threat would be juvenile and maybe actionable (IANAL) but using the County Sheriff’s page for this is not appropriate. Not to mention actually harassing Mr. Brown with deputies and dogs at the airport. There must have been witnesses to this exchange. I wonder if this is why Clarke is not spelling out what actually happened in more detail. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/24 "2017-01-20T18:48:20Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > You can invent any standard you please, and apply it to anyone you please. > > But _we_, as a society, enact laws to create standards. It’s those laws I am referring to. You seem to want to announce your personal standards as though they were some principles of universal agreement. And the fact that you apparently want to apply _lesser_ standards to an elected sheriff acting in his official capacity than to everyday citizens is downright disgusting. There’s no evidence Black has posted anything on social media about the event. There’s ample evidence that the sheriff has posted threats against him. Black told the news a version of the events. The news contacted the sheriffs department for a statement. They did not provide one, instead they posted a statement on facebook that the news is lying, and that the sheriff feels he can preemptively prevent an assault. Then later decided to post a picture of Black with a threat against him. Yet still you say we must reserve judgement until the sheriff provides an account of what he believe happened? We can’t point to his utterly irrational responses to this point and wonder if he is in fact an irrational person? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/25 "2017-01-20T19:27:21Z")
Let’s say that Black did more than shake his head, let’s say he told Clarke “You’re a son of a bitch and I’d like to clean your clock”. Would even that behavior have justified greeting him at the airport with six deputies and two attack dogs? Much less the further harassment? And I’m not being hyperbolic when I say “attack dogs”, I grew up with police K9s and that is what they are, albeit very well trained ones. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/26 "2017-01-20T19:31:47Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > And the fact that you apparently want to apply _lesser_ standards to an elected sheriff acting in his official capacity than to everyday citizens is downright disgusting. > > There’s no evidence Black has posted anything on social media about the event. There’s ample evidence that the sheriff has posted threats against him. > > Black told the news a version of the events. The news contacted the sheriffs department for a statement. They did not provide one, instead they posted a statement on facebook that the news is lying, and that the sheriff feels he can preemptively prevent an assault. Then later decided to post a picture of Black with a threat against him. > > Yet still you say we must reserve judgement until the sheriff provides an account of what he believe happened? We can’t point to his utterly irrational responses to this point and wonder if he is in fact an irrational person? [Bricker] It wasn’t illegal, and that’s all that matters. [/Bricker] ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/27 "2017-01-20T19:51:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What does Sheriff Clarke say happened? > > The story provides Black’s version of the events on the plane. What does Clarke say happened on the plane? I know, right, **Bricker**? Black probably smelled like oatmeal, and deserves to die after being mocked as a snowflake. Thanks for Just Asking QuestionsTM, **Bricker**! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/28 "2017-01-20T19:57:05Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > (emphasis added) Do you really think that using the Sheriff’s official Facebook page was appropriate for these responses? What difference does it make whether I think it’s “appropriate?” I think you’ve made posts here that are not “appropriate.” I think it was not “appropriate” for Madonna and Miley Cyrus to share an open-mouth kiss. (She’s way too old for her.) But until you primitive screw heads wise up and acclaim me as your King, my opinion about “appropriate” is meaningless. I am, however, interested in the code of conduct we all agree to and are bound by – not “appropriate” but “legal.” The OP alleged that the sheriff abused the legal power granted to him by his office. I pointed out that in order to determine that, we need to know what took place on the plane. > [@](#): > > If it was Clarke’s personal page, such a threat would be juvenile and maybe actionable (IANAL) but using the County Sheriff’s page for this is not appropriate. Not to mention actually harassing Mr. Brown with deputies and dogs at the airport. It depends. Suppose you were to learn that Back said to Clarke, “When we get to the airport, I am going to take the gun I have in checked baggage and shoot you through the head.” Certainly that would qualify as an imminent threat, and justify the response of deputies. It’s certainly possible that it all unfolded just as Black claimed it did. But since Clarke’s story has not been revealed, I cannot know whether to credit his recital of the facts. > [@](#): > > There must have been witnesses to this exchange. I wonder if this is why Clarke is not spelling out what actually happened in more detail. Indeed. I’d be very interested in hearing from them. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/29 "2017-01-20T19:58:45Z")
If it’s not explicitly illegal, or if there is a low probability of conviction, then everything the sheriff and his office did is perfectly acceptable and good. This is the way things are for some people. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/30 "2017-01-20T20:00:40Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Let’s say that Black did more than shake his head, let’s say he told Clarke “You’re a son of a bitch and I’d like to clean your clock”. I’d say no – that’s too indefinite to serve as a threat. But if he said, “You’re a son of a bitch, and when we land and I have some room to stomp your ass, believe me, I will and you’ll be eating through a straw for six months while your broken jaw heals,” then THAT behavior would justify greeting him at the airport with six deputies and two attack dogs. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/31 "2017-01-20T20:01:50Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > If it’s not explicitly illegal, or if there is a low probability of conviction, then everything the sheriff and his office did is perfectly acceptable and good. > > This is the way things are for some people. Fallacy of the Excluded Middle. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/32 "2017-01-20T20:03:31Z")
Not necessarily “perfectly acceptable” or “good”. We have to examine the semantic structures of those words, until your eyeballs begin to bleed and you flee, whereupon he wins. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/33 "2017-01-20T20:05:52Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Yet still you say we must reserve judgement until the sheriff provides an account of what he believe happened? We can’t point to his utterly irrational responses to this point and wonder if he is in fact an irrational person? You can create whatever standard you please and apply it however you like. But if you suggest that there’s a crime here, then I am going to point out that the rest of society has already created standards to apply. If you’re just going to opine about how inappropriate the sheriff is acting, then go ahead; I am not contradicting you. I don’t think my own opinion about propriety is useful here, but if you believe yours is, go rigjht ahead. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/34 "2017-01-20T20:17:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’d say no – that’s too indefinite to serve as a threat. But if he said, “You’re a son of a bitch, and when we land and I have some room to stomp your ass, believe me, I will and you’ll be eating through a straw for six months while your broken jaw heals,” then THAT behavior would justify greeting him at the airport with six deputies and two attack dogs. > > Right? No. There is usually **a** deputy on site at MKE. Having that deputy arrive at the gate would have been appropriate. The guy is getting off a domestic flight, he’s unarmed, and has committed a crime by threatening the sheriff. Arrest him at that point. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/35 "2017-01-20T20:30:57Z")
Yeah, it’s pretty safe to say 6 Officers and 2 dogs is overkill even if there was some threat uttered. Personally, I’m a little dubious at the “attack dog” description. Maybe Clarke was hoping his headshaking assailant had some pot on him and they were drug dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/36 "2017-01-20T20:34:18Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > No. There is usually **a** deputy on site at MKE. Having that deputy arrive at the gate would have been appropriate. The guy is getting off a domestic flight, he’s unarmed, and has committed a crime by threatening the sheriff. Arrest him at that point. Sorry, but that’s not “appropriate.” If the guy credibly threatened violence, then you send multiple officers. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/37 "2017-01-20T20:52:58Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yeah, it’s pretty safe to say 6 Officers and 2 dogs is overkill even if there was some threat uttered. Personally, I’m a little dubious at the “attack dog” description. Maybe Clarke was hoping his headshaking assailant had some pot on him and they were drug dogs. The K9s I grew up with were trained for both roles. (Dad was a deputy sheriff for over 30 years) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/38 "2017-01-20T20:54:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Sorry, but that’s not “appropriate.” If the guy credibly threatened violence, then you send multiple officers. And two K-9 units? Not generally. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/39 "2017-01-20T20:55:20Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Sorry, but that’s not “appropriate.” If the guy credibly threatened violence, then you send multiple officers. And then you arrest him. The fact that this guy was apparently not arrested, charged, or cited, hints strongly that this was pure intimidation. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/40 "2017-01-20T20:58:10Z")
Yes, if he credibly threatened violence then he should have been placed under arrest. What’s your theory on that, Bricker? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636.md?page=3)