Controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Resigns | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is the most topical news event of the day, it should be published on BCN.

       by Emily Zanotti

Clarke submitted his letter of resignation without warning on Thursday

    Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke submitted his resignation, without warning or explanation, to the Milwaukee County Clerk late Thursday.

    The outspoken conservative - and often controversial public figure - proffered a bare-bones resignation letter to the Clerk's office at 3:15 Thursday afternoon. The note, on Clarke's personal stationery, simply read: "Pursuant to Wis. Stat. §17.01, this communication is submitted as the notice of my resignation as Sheriff of Milwaukee County commencing August 31, 2017, at 11:59 p.m."

    Clarke, a longtime Trump supporter, was among experts' top picks for a White House job. But after just a few days as a nominee for the Department of Homeland Security, Clarke withdrew his name from consideration.

    He may be quitting to devote himself to being a pundit and law enforcement expert full time. He rose to prominence as a trusted commentator during the evolution of the Black Lives Matter movement, frequently taking a hard line in support of police - to the dismay of many left-leaners in the news media. He's also known for some of his more controversial ideas - on race, on Black Lives Matter (which he refers to as a "hate group"), and the Constitution (back in 2015, he called for a suspension of habeus corpus in order to weed out potential ISIS supporters among the population).

    Clark also just released a book about the ongoing battle America's law enforcement community faces against accusations of racial bias, Cop Under Fire: Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime and Politics for a Better America. President Trump tweeted out a plug for the book earlier this week.

    The Milwaukee Sheriff could also be considering a move into statewide office. Sources close to the Wisconsin GOP have often surfaced Clarke's name as a potential challenger to leftist Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, but Clarke has previously said he has no interest in serving in Congress. With Trump in the White House, that may have changed.

    Clarke is not in Wisconsin at the moment; he is attending the National Fraternal Order of Police convention in Nashville, Tennessee, but he will no doubt have much more to say on the issue.