# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/141 "2017-01-22T07:11:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > On a website devoted to fighting ignorance, it seems odd indeed to passionately defend one forum as a safe spot for ignorance. > > I disagree with your conclusion that the Pit is a haven for arguments from opinion. _The BBQ Pit: For rants about the world or beefs with another poster._ Says it right there on the box. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/142 "2017-01-22T07:15:35Z")
He’s just trying to raise the tone to a mature and refined level. Not on my watch. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/143 "2017-01-22T07:22:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > On a website devoted to fighting ignorance, it seems odd indeed to passionately defend one forum as a safe spot for ignorance. > > I disagree with your conclusion that the Pit is a haven for arguments from opinion. Neither is it a haven from all arguments but those of a legal nature. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/144 "2017-01-22T08:18:29Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > **Bricker** , I would be interested in your response to this. I almost always find your legal posts useful but this time you seem to be insisting that the legal point of view is the only thing worth discussing, and I wonder why. The legal point of view is the only thing worth discussing to resolve the legal question. The resolution of the passionate opinion question doesn’t have any difficulty. It has no one to argue with. Which poster here supports the ideas that this was an ideal display of community policing? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/145 "2017-01-22T08:25:00Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Our society—any human society, really—works only when people voluntarily adhere to codes of conduct that are not defined in law. To use a political example—although these kinds of things aren’t necessarily political—the last few years of Republican control of Congress and Trump show what happens when a group of people in power decide to reject standards of conduct that are not enforced by law, but by custom and voluntary agreement. > > Right now our democratic institutions are on the verge of collapse and we’re sliding toward some kind of anarchy or authoritarianism, and all that because a group of people have decided that they will not be bound by examples set in the past. Horseshit. Democrats removed the filibuster for nominations. Democrats voted down Bork. Democrats passed the ACA by reconciliation. All of this was peachy keen. Your fidelity to these institutions arises only when the institutions in question align with your desired outcome. When the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage was a constitutional requirement in the United States, did you bemoan their refusal to “be bound by examples set in the past?” Or was that progress? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/146 "2017-01-22T08:38:37Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Is it appropriate for a police department to obliquely threaten a private citizen in a public forum? And secondly, is it legal? “Appropriate?” by what yardstick? By what standard? This question is insidious; it suggests (without specifics) that there is a single standard to which all right-thinking peoples subscribe. > [@](#): > > Would it be legal for the policeman in question to approach the private citizen in person and say the same thin to him? (If I were to really harass you wouldn’t be around to whine about it? ) There’s a potential imminent threat to physical presence that doesn’t arise from a Facebook posting. So it’s possible that the face to face threat would cross the criminal line. I’d say it would depend on the demeanor and delivery – would a reasonable person, hearing that comment face to face, believe that it amounted to a threat of physical harm based on the tone and demeanor of the delivery? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/147 "2017-01-22T08:40:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > _The BBQ Pit: For rants about the world or beefs with another poster._ Says it right there on the box. Is there something about rants or beefs that excludes fact-based argument? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/148 "2017-01-22T08:43:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Horseshit. > > Democrats removed the filibuster for nominations. Democrats voted down Bork. Democrats passed the ACA by reconciliation. All of this was peachy keen. Your fidelity to these institutions arises only when the institutions in question align with your desired outcome. > > When the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage was a constitutional requirement in the United States, did you bemoan their refusal to “be bound by examples set in the past?” > > Or was that progress? Democrats are discovering the 10th amendment and federalism now. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/149 "2017-01-22T08:46:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Neither is it a haven from all arguments but those of a legal nature. Did the sheriff abuse his authority by misuse of the official resource of the official sheriff’s Facebook page? That’s a question that has a legal nature. If the legal answer were unambiguously “yes,” you would be falling all over yourself pointing out how the sheriff violated the law. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/150 "2017-01-22T09:16:16Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > By what standard? My opinion? Your opinion? The law? A poll of all red-headed left handed pipe-fitters under 40? > > Tell me what standard you wish to apply and I’ll try my best to answer. Whichever criteria you think you know the answer to, Counsellor. I’d be happy just seeking a “consensus among good-spirited citizens” but since you may define “good-spirited” as hating dark-skinned people and loving guns, perhaps all we can hope for from _you_ is a legal opinion. Do I need to specify how much each side is spending for its legal team? Whether the judge is a good ol’ boy or a Mexican appointed by a Kenyan Islamist sympathizer? Are only police-approved video clips allowed to be introduced as evidence? For the jury pool are we stuck with Trumpist blowhards of a redneck ilk, or can we get a change of venue to a saner jurisdiction? Would it matter whether the 9th Scotus Justice is Obama’s Merrick Garland, or Trump’s Groom of the Stool? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/151 "2017-01-22T10:49:00Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Is there something about rants or beefs that excludes fact-based argument? No, but they demand a personal opinion. There’s no such thing as an objective rant. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/152 "2017-01-22T16:00:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > …Or was that progress? Yes! Yes, it was! By Golly, I think he may be catching on! Is there a sale on fatted calf at Prodigal Sons 'R Us? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/153 "2017-01-22T17:05:22Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Whichever criteria you think you know the answer to, Counsellor. I’d be happy just seeking a “consensus among good-spirited citizens” but since you may define “good-spirited” as hating dark-skinned people and loving guns, perhaps all we can hope for from _you_ is a legal opinion. Seems to me you want a poll, then. “Was this a proper use of police power? Check yes or no.” Unless there are undisclosed facts from the sheriff’s side of the story – which side we have not yet heard, I remind you – then I’d opine this was improper. Opine. Opinion. > [@](#): > > Do I need to specify how much each side is spending for its legal team? Whether the judge is a good ol’ boy or a Mexican appointed by a Kenyan Islamist sympathizer? Are only police-approved video clips allowed to be introduced as evidence? For the jury pool are we stuck with Trumpist blowhards of a redneck ilk, or can we get a change of venue to a saner jurisdiction? Would it matter whether the 9th Scotus Justice is Obama’s Merrick Garland, or Trump’s Groom of the Stool? The entire legal system is mysterious to you? Is it like you’re a Melanesian islander building a runway so that airplanes will land with wealth? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/154 "2017-01-22T17:11:59Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > How will a “frank exchange of ideas” assist us in determining the number of sharps in D major? > > Two. > > Cycle of fifths. > > C has none, G has 1, D has 2. And so on. Sure, that’s what you say. But what is the consensus of good-spirited citizens on the point? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/155 "2017-01-22T17:18:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > No, but they demand a personal opinion. There’s no such thing as an objective rant. [Merriam-Webster:](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rant) > [@](#): > > 1: to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner None of these descriptors requires discarding factual accuracy in favor of personal opinion. And I’ll guess that now the discussion will turn on how useless the dictionary is in determining what words mean, and an impassioned plea that we determine the meaning of words by what you want them to mean? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/156 "2017-01-22T17:24:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > [Merriam-Webster:](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rant) > > None of these descriptors requires discarding factual accuracy in favor of personal opinion. > > And I’ll guess that now the discussion will turn on how useless the dictionary is in determining what words mean, and an impassioned plea that we determine the meaning of words by what you want them to mean? Fuck this twaddle. What is your opinion on the matter? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/157 "2017-01-22T17:50:02Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Unless there are undisclosed facts from the sheriff’s side of the story – which side we have not yet heard, I remind you – then I’d opine this was improper. Opine. Opinion. FINALLY! Geez! It’s like pulling teeth! -which could _totally_ happen in the back cells where nobody can hear a guy screaming, you bet, if the look at the sheriff sideways, so you better keep your head down. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/158 "2017-01-22T18:34:02Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > FINALLY! Geez! It’s like pulling teeth! Ok. Who read my opinion and seriously thought, “Finally, we have learned something relevant?” Which posters here believe my opinion is more relevant to the issue than a correct summary of the legal framework? And if you do – why? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/159 "2017-01-22T18:38:46Z")
As an aside, I am a Redskins fan, so as far as I am concerned the sheriff is guilty of several grave wrongs even without the airport incident. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636/160 "2017-01-22T18:41:32Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The Sheriff is \*not \*free to trash talk on the **official Sheriff’s facebook page** to a citizen. He certainly has no problem letting loose on Twitter, though. He’s admitted to daring people at the march yesterday to resort to violence. He doesn’t want to keep the peace. I wonder what he does want. It probably rhymes with “smacking bulls”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milwaukee-county-sheriff-david-clarke-harasses-threatens-packer-fan/777636.md?page=9)