Richard Mack
Constitutional Sheriffs Gather
Sheriffs who abide by their oaths of office in the face of unconstitutional federal overreach are making a difference. …
By Alex Newman
LAS VEGAS — Sheriffs have the power and the duty to stand for the U.S. Constitution they swore an oath to uphold, and to protect the rights of the people in their counties, regardless of what state or federal authorities might do, explained a wide range of speakers at a gathering including sheriffs, media personalities, victims of political persecution, businessmen, and military leaders.
Respect for the oath of office to the U.S. Constitution was one of the clear messages from the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association’s (CSPOA) “Resist the Temptation” conference on April 17. That constitutional mandate applies to everything from elections and immigration to free speech and even the protection of order from lawlessness, the lawmen and their allies heard.
The event made headlines worldwide and was broadcast globally by FrankSpeech, reportedly being seen live by more than 50,000 people. Videos from the event continue to circulate widely on social media and beyond.
Organized by CSPOA founder Sheriff Richard Mack and CEO Sam Bushman, a syndicated radio host, the summit brought together an impressive array of Trump insiders, lawmen, elected officials, and experts. Each had unique insights and perspectives to share. Taken together, the speakers offered a long list of action items for the law-enforcement community and for citizen-activists concerned about America.
Mack, who served two terms as sheriff in Arizona, sued the Clinton administration in the 1990s over a gun-control bill that he refused to enforce. The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of sheriffs and against the gun-control scheme.
In the landmark decision, Printz v. United States, the Court, citing the 10th Amendment and more, ruled once again that the federal government could not “commandeer” state or local governments. Known as the “anti-commandeering doctrine,” the case upholds the Constitution’s reservation of powers to the states and the people that have not been delegated to the federal government.
Numerous speakers at the event touted the ruling as key, not just for sheriffs but also for state and local governments. Hundreds of sheriffs nationwide are members of CSPOA and have been trained on their authority under the U.S. Constitution and common law, as well as on the details of the 1997 ruling.
Not surprisingly, federal supremacists and totalitarians seeking to centralize coercive power in Washington, D.C., are on the warpath against Mack and CSPOA. And the dishonest attacks by the media offered fresh evidence that constitutional sheriffs are a major thorn in the side of those who would run roughshod over the rights of Americans.
Several sheriffs offered ideas for their colleagues in other counties. One of the lawmen who spoke at the conference, Klickitat County, Washington, Sheriff Bob Songer, explained how sheriffs across the nation could deputize citizens and form a posse. Songer, whose posse includes some 150 carefully screened citizens, even offered his department’s policy manuals and guidelines for other sheriffs across the nation who may wish to set up their own.
In an interview with The New American, Songer noted that the radical Left was furious about his decision to supplement his department’s ranks with everyday citizens. However, considering the savings to taxpayers and the need for more manpower in everything from search and rescue to dealing with potential threats to the community, Songer said creating posses could be helpful to law enforcement nationwide.
Another chief law-enforcement officer with experience deputizing citizens is Sheriff Glenn Hamilton of Sierra County, New Mexico, who went on stage with Pastor Caleb Cooper of New Hope Revival Church. When state authorities demanded lockdowns and claimed churches were not essential during Covid, Cooper knew he could not close his doors.
The only thing worse than having somebody die from Covid because his church stayed open, Cooper told state police, would be having somebody die of Covid without having heard the Gospel and ending up in hell. “We just could not close our church,” Cooper told The New American, emphasizing the importance of the Church continuing to shine the light in dark times. “We are essential.”
Cooper and Hamilton devised a plan. Because law enforcement was considered essential and was therefore not subject to the lockdown orders, the sheriff went to New Hope Revival Church right before Resurrection Sunday and deputized the entire congregation. “I would have deputized every man, woman, and child in my county if that is what it took,” Hamilton told The New American in an interview.
The whole saga was featured prominently in the documentary Noncompliant 2: The Sheriff by KrisAnne Hall. It was contrasted with the outrageous behavior of an anti-constitutional sheriff in Florida, who arrested a pastor for refusing to shut his church before Governor Ron DeSantis shut down the rogue sheriff by declaring churches essential. As Hamilton explained, almost all the New Mexico sheriffs also resisted unconstitutional abuses against gun rights in the state.
A third lawman who spoke at the summit, Barry County, Michigan, Sheriff Dar Leaf, offered details of his ongoing investigations into irregularities in the 2020 election. Upon being given evidence of alleged criminal acts, Leaf felt he had a duty to investigate. And yet, instead of helping him get to the bottom of it, state officials — including the far-left attorney general — responded by waging war on Leaf and his efforts.
“It’s been nothing but walls and having to knock down walls to get to the information that I need to get to,” Leaf told The New American in an interview before his talk. “The walls being put up are probably the most frustrating — and walls put up by people you’d think would be helping you out in an investigation, like the attorney general’s office and the secretary of state.”
Considering the enormity of the crimes being alleged and the significance of them, Leaf told The New American, there should have been a task force of local, state, and federal law enforcement investigating. “Everybody should have been involved in it,” he said. “There’s a lot to this. I think we would have had this all resolved by now if we had done that.”
“You’re talking about, potentially, the greatest fraud ever committed in the world — committed on the American people,” added Leaf.
Numerous other sheriffs have also opened investigations into widespread reports of voter fraud and election crimes. In fact, at a previous CSPOA event in Las Vegas, this writer interviewed more than half a dozen sheriffs for The New American who were trying to get to the bottom of it all, only to be viciously attacked by the far-left media, the Democratic Party, and their allies.
Other highlights of the conference included a speech by former National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn (ret.), who also served as a top intelligence official responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, tribal, and international intelligence. Among other topics, Flynn discussed his new documentary, Flynn, which exposes how and why he was the first of Trump’s key officials to be targeted by the Deep State. In an interview with The New American, he noted that the DVD had soared to No. 1 in Amazon’s DVD sales. “Remember, local action for national impact,” Flynn told the crowd.
Pointing to the open border and the ongoing invasion of hostile military and terrorist forces, veteran Boone Cutler, an associate of Flynn who joined him in co-authoring the book The Citizen’s Guide to Fifth Generation Warfare, announced a new training program for law enforcement on irregular warfare. Saxon Aerospace founder John Ferguson also offered resources to help law enforcement prepare for tough times ahead, later telling The New American that the nation might already be lost.
Also speaking was MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a leading voice calling for election reforms to restore confidence and integrity in voting. In an interview with The New American, he called for citizens to sign the petition at LindellOffenseFund.org for paper ballots and hand-counting in elections. Especially urgent: getting rid of the machines that can be hacked.
Popular radio host Wayne Allyn Root enthusiastically called on Americans to get involved in the freedom fight, too.
Former Mesa County, Colorado, Clerk Tina Peters, who uncovered serious problems with the election and has been ruthlessly persecuted for speaking out, gave an update on her efforts. And former Arizona state Representative Mark Finchem, who is running for state Senate and is endorsed by Donald Trump, also gave an update on his lawsuits against election fraud.
Dr. Richard Fleming, a medical doctor, attorney, and physicist, discussed the bioweapon attack on humanity in the form of the Covid injections, and urged viewers to contact their state attorneys general with a letter demanding action.
FreeAndEqual.org chief Christina Tobin, who is working to provide a platform for candidates outside the two-party duopoly, spoke on how the establishment seeks to keep Americans trapped in either the Republican or Democratic party.
Several victims of the January 6 persecution by the Biden Department of Justice, including Casey Cusick and Tom Hamner, spoke about the horrors they endured, and yet offered a message of hope.
Also speaking were two former congressmen targeted by the Deep State for speaking out, Steve Stockman of Texas and Steve King of Iowa.
Stockman explained how the Obama administration went after him with a vengeance, squandering over $20 million of tax money and going through multiple grand juries until they could find one willing to help in the persecution. He was eventually jailed in federal prison and treated terribly until Trump commuted his sentence. He urged Americans to pray for and write to former Arkansas state Senator Jon Woods, who was persecuted by the same forces and remains behind bars in atrocious conditions.
Iowa’s King, meanwhile, was smeared by the far-left media with fake allegations of racism until he was run out of office. During his talk, he exposed the “carbon capture” scam, the ongoing attack on private-property rights, the globalist undermining of national sovereignty, and more.
South Dakota farmer Jared Bossly, a victim of the “carbon capture” scheme, shared details of what is happening in his state and beyond.
Entrepreneur Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock.com, gave a detailed presentation on Deep State activities and how to fight back.
This writer, who served as the emcee, also spoke on the importance of the oath of office and the biblical foundations of law and resistance to tyranny.
Estimates cited in news reports suggest about 10 percent of the nation’s sheriffs are members of CSPOA.
As always happens when influential conservatives gather to effectively oppose tyranny and globalism, the establishment media, which was crawling all over the event, pretended to be outraged. The far-left U.K. Guardian, for instance, ran a propaganda piece demonizing the event before it even happened under the headline “‘Danger to our democracy’: fears over Trump allies’ summit with far-right sheriffs.”
Shortly after the conference finished, fringe left-wing activist Brandy Zadrozny, who repeatedly cackled as political prisoners shared horrifying details of abuse in federal prison, ran a vicious hit piece attacking the gathering. “A sheriff, a felon and a conspiracy theorist walk into a hotel. They’re there for the same conference,” screamed the headline. “The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is urging lawmen to form posses, seize voting machines and investigate baseless claims of voter fraud.”
Virtually all of the attack pieces masquerading as journalism misrepresented the CSPOA and what it teaches its members, the public, and the nation’s sheriffs. The NBC “News” report by Zadrozny, who several attendees said has a reputation for lying and dishonesty, offered a representative example of the lie: “The group sees sheriffs as the highest authority in the U.S., more powerful than the federal government.”
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Not one person at the summit or at CSPOA has ever claimed that a sheriff has more power than the federal government. However, it is a fact that sheriffs are the chief law-enforcement officers in their jurisdiction, that they are not accountable to or employed by the federal government, and that they all have an obligation to obey their oath of office to the U.S. Constitution and their state’s constitution — not enforce federal regulations and statutes.
Virtually all of the establishment media left before the press conference, when they would have had the opportunity to ask most of the speakers anything they wanted. Instead, they simply lied or distorted what the speakers said and what the CSPOA and its members stand for.
Despite the hatred from the totalitarian media, the event was very well received by attendees and online viewers. Multiple law-enforcement officials told The New American that they learned a lot. In the end, it may well be the nation’s sheriffs and state governments who stand between citizens and the escalating lawlessness and tyranny that is overtaking the nation.
From thenewamerican.com