On Friday’s broadcast of “Fox & Friends,” Milwaukee County, WI Sheriff David Clarke chastised outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder for his decision to sue the city of Ferguson, MO in the wake of last year’s Michael Brown shooting.
Clarke told “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade his actions were an abuse of power.
“Well, it’s more of the same from Eric Holder,” Clarke said. “Look this is an abuse of power. Eric Holder has gone 15 for 15 in terms of indicting police departments of some sort of wrongdoing. That doesn’t pass the smell test. There’s no objectivity in his investigations and oftentimes the conclusion is written before the investigation even starts. If I were the city of Ferguson I would fight this. Look, the Ferguson grand jury got it right. Officer Darren Wilson acted reasonably in defending his life against Mike Brown. It was a tragedy, we all know that. But Eric Holder early on before that investigation had started said we’ll get this right and the fact that the grand jury ruled not the way he thought they should have, he’s still going to try to extract his pound of flesh. But Brian, these investigations are costly and not only the investigation but when they put you under consent decree this is nothing more than an exercise in writing reports for law enforcement officers. That takes up time — valuable time that takes them away from the street for driving in high crime communities and servicing the people of the city of Ferguson, MO.”
Clarke explained that the end of the Holder era at the DOJ couldn’t come soon enough.
“It’s a typical politics of Eric Holder and the United States Department of Justice — at least under his tenure. You know, we can’t see this guy out the door soon enough. I know he’s leaving. I just hope that the next attorney general that comes in, whoever that might be, won’t be Eric Holder 2.0. It will be a little more open minded and more supportive of local law enforcement. Look, the city of Ferguson has problems, just like any other city in America. Milwaukee is no different. But these things should be solve and settled and discussed at the local level without federal interference.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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