Intelligence Report: ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’ Movement Spreads, Promotes Defiance of Federal Laws
A movement made up of sheriffs claiming to be the highest law enforcement authority in the country is growing nationwide as it exploits hot-button issues such as gun control to encourage sheriffs to defy federal laws they don’t like, according to the Summer 2016 issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report, released today.
The cover story, “Line in the Sand,” details the growth of this radical ideology since 2009. The movement, formed around an organization called the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), is a phenomenon rarely, if ever, seen in the United States – a concerted, long-term effort to recruit law enforcement officers into the antigovernment “Patriot” movement.
“The phenomenon of the ‘constitutional sheriffs’ movement is deeply troubling and problematic,” said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the SPLC and editor of the Intelligence Report. “These men and women are being told by extremist leaders that they have the right to decide what laws they want to enforce and can keep federal law enforcement agents out of their counties. That is utterly untrue, the very opposite of constitutional, and it in fact encourages sheriffs and their deputies to defy the law of the land.”
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