Dateline investigates the far-right sheriffs infiltrating US policing. What does this mean for a country on the cusp of a historic election, and could this influence the outcome? Watch New Sheriff in Town on Dateline at 9.30pm, Tuesday 10 September on SBS.
It’s election season in America, from local mayors, sheriffs and members of Congress all the way up to the White House – and the nation could not be more starkly divided.
In the battleground state of Arizona, a fringe group of right-wing sheriffs is injecting itself directly into this political maelstrom, vowing to pick and choose which laws to enforce in their counties and override the nation’s courts, legislatures and even the president.
“We seem to be getting less and less and less freedoms because of the tyranny of the federal government enacting all kinds of laws,” said Jerry Sheridan, who’s running on the Republican ticket to become the next sheriff in Maricopa County, America’s fourth largest with a population over four million.
He’s pledged to be what’s known as a ‘constitutional sheriff’.
Jerry Sheridan says he has a ’modest’ gun collection, which includes three sub-machine guns.
The ultimate authority
Critics argue these sheriffs are selectively interpreting the constitution in order to defend their anti-federalist, ultra-conservative vision of America. But Sheridan, and others who follow the ideology, believe the sheriff has ultimate authority within their county.
If elected sheriff in November, Sheridan says he will push back against everything from gun safety laws and environmental protection laws to public health mandates.
“When we had Covid in 2020 there were a lot of government mandates to wear masks to close down restaurants,” Sheridan said. “And so, as a constitutional sheriff, I would not enforce those unconstitutional mandates.”
“There’s another good example in New Mexico. The mayor of Albuquerque declared it a gun-free zone. But that violates our constitution. The sheriff stepped up and told the mayor, ‘you cannot do that’ and so the mayor actually backed off.
“There’s been cases all across the country in the last couple of years where sheriffs are finally realising the power and authority that they do have because they’re elected officials.”
Of America’s roughly 3,100 sheriffs, it’s thought up to 300 align with this ideology, which rose to prominence in the Obama-era and received a shot in the arm during the Trump presidency. Today, most constitutional sheriffs are campaigning hard for a second Trump term.
“Donald Trump and the people he will put in place are not federalists, they are not the kind of people that will limit the powers of the states,” Sheridan said.
Among constitutional sheriffs, there’s also widespread belief in unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
“There’s absolutely election fraud,” said Sheridan. “A constitutional sheriff will make sure that our elections are free to all people and that they’re not corrupted in any way. And so if the sheriff finds corruption in the election system, the sheriff can actually do something and arrest people.”
‘Not a democracy’
Many of Sheridan’s ideas can be traced back to an umbrella organisation called the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). The group’s founder, former Graham County sheriff Richard Mack, often speaks in terms that harken back to 18th-century rhetoric tied to the American Revolutionary War.
Former Graham County sheriff Richard Mack believes Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is a ’destructive force’ which the US constitution cannot afford.
“So first of all, we’re not a democracy. We never have been,” said Mack. “The sheriff is the top executor of the law. He can defend the people from the abuse and the oppression and the bullying of the federal government.”
Mack rose to prominence after a Supreme Court victory that weakened Clinton-era gun controls in the 1990s. He founded the CSPOA in 2011 and now spends most of his time criss-crossing the country spreading his ideology to law enforcement via seminars and rallies.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in government, it doesn’t matter if you’re a street criminal. Violate the law, you will be investigated and we will correct you.”
Law enforcement gone rogue
There’s no shortage of think tanks and research institutes lining up to knock the constitutional sheriffs off their perch, arguing that only the courts have the authority to decide what’s constitutional or unconstitutional.
Among the loudest voices has been the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), which has been monitoring the constitutional sheriffs since 2009 in an effort to expose what they allege has been their troubling role in American life, law enforcement and, now, national politics.
“What we have unfortunately is a situation of people with great authority, with weapons, people whom citizens have to follow, who unfortunately seem to be going rogue,” said SLPC extremism expert Rachel Goldwasser.
“I would say being a constitutional sheriff makes them far-right extremists. They do not have this authority that they have granted themselves.”
The SPLC also alleges the group has ties to a variety of domestic extremists – though Mack and others affiliated with the CSPOA strongly assert they are not racist or affiliated with the white supremacist movement.
Goldwasser added: “This includes everybody from supremacists, neo-Confederates, as well as self-identified conspiracy theorists, sovereign citizens who refuse to follow the law and really everything in between.
“And if more sheriffs get into this, then what we’re going to see is a breakdown in the rule of law, and we’re going to see sheriffs that are at least tacitly interested in the breakdown of democracy as well.”
Pima County encompasses the city of Tuscon, Arizona in America’s south. Credit: Wild Horizon/Universal Images Group via Getty
‘No place for hate’
Sandwiched between Maricopa County and the border with Mexico lies Pima County, where there’s another Arizona lawman who has a very different idea of what a sheriff should be.
Chris Nanos is the incumbent sheriff here and also in the midst of a primary election battle like Sheridan – but for the Democratic nomination. Nanos must first face off against a rival from his own party to win a spot on the Democratic ticket for the November general election.
“I have a challenge here now, I have some opponents who have come out and said they are with constitutional sheriffs,” Nanos said.
“What I really think is dangerous is that you have people who run for this job, who run for this office with the belief that they are going to be all powerful. That they have no rules that apply to them. That they set the rules. And that is hogwash.
“I have my political beliefs about abortion or the border or migration, but I can’t let that dictate my role as a police officer in the community. My standing is simply this, I got to keep you safe.”
Democrat sheriff Chris Nanos is being challenged for his position by candidates who identify as ‘constitutional sheriffs.’
Nanos says that while some candidates for sheriff may be voicing far-right ideology for political gain, he believes that rhetoric is never harmless.
“The hate speech, the hate-mongering, the promotion of hatred over this group, that group, migrants, LGBTQ. There’s no place in this country for hate,” he said. “Justice is blind for a reason. What they’re doing is they’re taking that blindfold off.”
Goldwasser says America faces an uncertain future if constitutional sheriff ideology continues to grow within the ranks of law enforcement.
“I hear the far right constantly talking about freedom and liberty, but what I see them actually doing, and this includes militias, this includes constitutional sheriffs, is trying to tear our democracy apart and create what essentially could be an authoritarian government,” she said.
“I am very worried. I’m worried as an expert that looks at these groups and worried as a citizen of this country, I’m worried as a parent that we are moving into a direction where this country that I love so much may not look the same moving forward.”
