Technological tools to increase law enforcement’s surveillance capacity will be showcased at this year’s annual National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), Education and Technology Expo from June 14-18, heightening concerns regarding law enforcement’s targeting of minority communities. But the troubling alignment between far-right movements and the NSA may pose a more endemic threat to racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. today.
Nearly a quarter of the leadership of the NSA have ties to the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). A right-wing network of sheriffs founded by Richard Mack in 2011, CSPOA’s ideology is rooted in a reading of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits almost the entire structure of the current U.S. federal government, especially its regulatory bodies. CSPOA sheriffs tend to endorse the transfer of federally-owned lands to county level government, harsher anti-immigrant enforcement, collaboration with militia, and nullification, the notion that federal laws can be ignored by local governments at either the county or state level.
The National Sheriffs’ Association has noted this problem, but mostly dismissed how widespread it is. In 2018, NSA President Sheriff Layton of Marion County, Indiana characterized CSPOA as a fringe movement. “The National Sheriffs’ Association and State Sheriffs’ Associations really don’t interact with them,” he noted in an interview with NPR. “The mainstream sheriffs across America do not agree with these so-called constitutional sheriffs.”
However, seven of NSA’s 30 Board of Directors and Executive Committee leadership were designated as so-called “Constitutional sheriffs” by the far-right Patriot movement group, Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA).
The CSPOA designates seven National Sheriffs’ Association Leaders as so-called “Constitutional” sheriffs
The National Sheriffs’ Association is a non-profit organization led by an Executive Committee and Board of Directors comprised of currently serving sheriffs. The Executive Committee 2nd Vice President and six of their twenty-one Board of Directors were listed by the CSPOA as “Constitutional” sheriffs from 2013-2019. Many of these sheriffs have also been vocal advocates of harsher immigration enforcement.
- Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh of Chester County, Pennsylvania serves as the 2nd Vice President to the National Sheriffs’ Association. CSPOA lists Welsh on their “County Sheriffs Defending the Constitution” in 2013 and their 2014 list of Sheriffs Saying ‘No’ to Obama Gun Control. She signed NSA’s 2018 letter urging Congress to pass draconian anti-immigrant legislation. In 2017, she posted a photo on Facebook of her reading list, featuring a book by the right-wing commentator Dinesh D’Souza.
- Huey “Hoss” Mack of Baldwin County, Alabama serves on the Board of Directors of the National Sheriffs’ Association and served as the President of the Alabama Sheriffs Association in 2014. He also serves on the Baldwin County Republican Party Executive Committee. The CSPOA listedBaldwin on their 2014 list of Sheriffs Saying ‘No’ to Obama Gun Control. He also signed NSA’s 2018 letter urging Congress to pass draconian anti-immigrant legislation.
- Leon Wilmot of Yuma County, Arizona serves on the Board of Directors of the National Sheriffs’ Association and as Chairman of the Southwestern Border Sheriff’s Coalition (SWBSC), which represents 31 counties along the Southwestern Border. CSPOA listed Wilmot on their list of “County Sheriffs Defending the Constitution” in 2013. He also signed NSA’s 2018 letter urging Congressto pass draconian anti-immigrant legislation.
- Justin Smith of Larimer County, Colorado serves on the National Sheriffs’ Association Board of Directors. CSPOA listed Smith on their list of “County Sheriffs Defending the Constitution” in 2013 and their 2014 list of Sheriffs Saying ‘No’ to Obama Gun Control. He also signed NSA’s 2018 letter urging Congress to pass draconian anti-immigrant legislation.
- Michael Adkinson of Walton County, Florida serves on the National Sheriffs’ Association Board of Directors. CSPOA listed him on their 2014 list of Sheriffs Saying ‘No’ to Obama Gun Control.
- Kieran Donahue of Canyon County, Idaho serves on the National Sheriffs’ Association Board of Directors. CSPOA listed Donahue on their 2013 list of “County Sheriffs Defending the Constitution” and their 2014 list of Sheriffs Saying ‘No’ to Obama Gun Control. He was also one of 16 sheriffs from across the country who met with the Trump administration to discuss securing the border in Feb. 2019 and one of approximately 40 sheriffs to visit the White House to urge Congress to pass harsher border enforcement in the fall of 2018.
- James Stuart of Anoka County, Minnesota serves on the National Sheriffs’ Association Board of Directors. CSPOA listed Stuart on their 2013 list of “County Sheriffs Defending the Constitution” and their 2014 list of Sheriffs Saying ‘No’ to Obama Gun Control. He is facing a lawsuit for accusations of racially profiling and illegally detaining 21-year-old Myriam Parada.
Sheriffs from across the country will gather this week in Louisville, Kentucky, leading and attending workshops including “Securing Our Nation’s Borders.” However, NSA leadership’s alignment with far-right groups in conjunction with the association’s push for harsher border enforcement, invites the question: whose security is the NSA concerned with?