Meet the far-right constitutional sheriffs ready to assert control if Trump loses
Tim Marchman: This comes from when you wrote about white supremacist beliefs. Can you unpack that a bit?
David Gilbert: It is, and you can trace it back to the late 1960s, early 1970s with a movement called Posse Comitatus, founded by a man named William Potter Gale. At the time, he was pastor of an anti-Semitic white nationalist quasi-religion called Christian Identity. He believed that the sheriffs were the protectors of the citizens and that they had the right to call out the militia and that they should be enshrined in law as the supreme law enforcement agency anywhere in the land. water. We have seen over the years that these constitutional or far-right Sheriffs, no matter what they have done about the extremist actions that they have taken, if they have a local supporter base local or in their district who believe that in what they are doing they will be elected back into office for decades.
Tim Marchman: The public mandate is quite strong, but some of these sheriffs are invoking a higher source of power. They say their power comes from God, which seems pretty unconstitutional given the separation of church and state in America. How do they react to that?
David Gilbert: Well, they respond by saying that separation of church and state is not something that actually exists. It was, they say, again a misreading of the Constitution, and the entire Constitutional Sheriff movement was deeply imbued with Christian nationalist beliefs and ideology. Most of the Constitutional Sheriffs I have spoken to over the past six months or so want the United States to return to being a nation rooted in Christianity, where Christianity is at the center of every aspect of life , whether law enforcement or education or government or culture. They believe that in that society because they believe they get their power from God, they will be the most powerful law enforcement individuals in the nation.
Tim Marchman: In this constitutional order as they understand it, do constitutional governors or constitutional mayors have a role, or are these powers reserved only for sheriffs?
David Gilbert: They seem to believe that these powers are reserved only for the sheriff. In all the time I’ve been covering this issue, I’ve never heard any of them talk about other figures, whether in government or law enforcement, who have similar power like the sheriff. Again, that goes back to the idea that this is somehow enshrined in the Constitution. As we said, it’s not, but in their belief system, in their ideology, they can go after the sheriff. This is one of the oldest law enforcement offices in the world. It goes back to Great Britain, where sheriffs carry out the orders of local magistrates and collect taxes and the like. Obviously it was exported from England to America and it has been around since the founding of the United States. They believe that’s the key to giving them power that no one else in the United States has because at the local level, they’re there to protect their citizens and the citizens are the ones who elect them, and therefore it is their duty. Even if other positions such as governor are elected by the people, they do not seem to believe that the position needs similar constitutional protection.
