The Santa Fe New Mexican, Roundhouse Roundup column

Feb. 26--Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia told me this afternoon that his department will not be paying for any of his deputies to go to a speech by controversial ex-Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke in Albuquerque in April.

Clarke, who was the subject of my Sunday politics column, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at its 20th annual Gang Conference and guest of honor at a $150-per-plate VIP dinner April 29. Both events are sponsored by the New Mexico Gang Task Force -- a multi-jurisdictional entity connected with law enforcement agencies around the state.

Though Garcia said a Santa Fe deputy is scheduled to go to a task force training session, "if he wants to go hear this radical speaker, he'll have to go on his own time and spend his own money. I'm not spending any tax-payer money on this."

Garcia continued, "I don't know why the gang task force invited this guy. I disagree with that."

The short answer, in a written statement given to me last week by event coordinator Antoinette Apodaca: "Ex-Sheriff Clarke served the people of Milwaukee County for 15 years and politics aside, his experiences are invaluable to law enforcement everywhere. ... We stand by our decision to have him as our keynote speaker."

Albuquerque Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos recently condemned the Clarke speech:

"It's disappointing that any New Mexico organization would invite someone with such a radical disregard for civil rights and human dignity to be a keynote speaker. This invitation sends the wrong message at the wrong time, as we bring back community policing and make progress toward restoring public trust in law enforcement."

Clarke, who resigned as sheriff last year and now works as a spokesman for a pro-Donald Trump PAC, is something of a star in right-wing circles.

Recently he suggested on Twitter that students who survived the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida were being organized by George Soros to demand stronger gun control laws.

He's also compared Black Lives Matters to ISIS and has advocated suspending habeas corpus against Americans "spewing jihadi rhetoric."

I've also reached out to Santa Fe Police spokesman Greg Gurule on this and will add his comment when he gets back to me.

___

(c)2018 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.)

Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at www.santafenewmexican.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.