New Mexico Democrat Sheriff Refusing to Enforce Orders That Violate Constitutional Rights

Written with contribution from Sheriff David Clarke

Between election theft, foreign threats, and a pandemic that has brought out the inner tyrant in many local and state leaders, we need more men willing to take a stand. And women I might add.

This is a republic—our strength lies within each of us as individuals to make major moves to protect what’s ours.

We can’t sit around and wait for others to begin resisting tyranny.

It’s time to stand up in our own patch and do what’s right.

This is exactly what Democrat Sheriff Manuel Gonzales of Bernalillo County is doing in his refusal to enforce his state’s “overreaching” coronavirus restrictions, as BizPac Review reports.

In a video message, Sheriff Gonzales explained that his officers will prioritize keeping the county’s families safe from crime rather than violating their constitutional rights by enforcing restrictive stay-at-home orders.

He chided his state’s response as “some of the most restrictive measures which significantly impacted countless New Mexicans’ livelihoods, health and well-being.”

His county, which includes Albuquerque, has seen “more than its fair share of personal hardships and devastation,” he said, and that “we all agree we must do better.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v95B1lpt_PM

“This year, my office listened to numerous citizens concerned about what have been categorized as ‘oppressive lockdown mandates’,” the sheriff explained in his two-and-a-half minute video.

“I sympathize with the families, business owners, children and houses of worship to the point that they believe that their civil liberties are being compromised,” Gonzales, a Marine Corp vet, said.

He explained that residents’ lives have already been seriously upended, pointing to the fact that the  “vast majority of schools are closed to meaningful in-person learning,” while “New Mexico families are waiting in line for hours to buy foods and purchase other goods, and countless businesses have been shut down – many of which unlikely to open again.”

“Some elected officeholders have prioritized turning everyday citizens into villains for simply attempting to live their lives in the pursuit of happiness,” the 24-year veteran of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department continued.

“It is my opinion that the resources of the sheriff’s office should be focused on making our communities safe and more prosperous for everyday citizens. As the sheriff, duly elected by the Bernalillo County citizens, I choose to direct this agency’s time and resources toward the laws deemed to keep the people free of crime.”

Not to mention his sworn duty to upholding people’s Constitutional liberties.

Gonzales did not specifically name New Mexico’s Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, but the message came just after an announcement from her office that a statewide order would be shutting down all in-person services for all nonessential activities for the next two weeks, including the holiday.

This was “to blunt the unprecedented spike of COVID-19 illnesses and to attempt to relieve dramatically escalating strain on hospitals and health care providers across the state,” according to the state health department’s website.

These draconian overreaching restrictions, Gonzales said, “will only hurt our community.”

“For that reason, we will not follow along with any orders that subvert your Constitutional rights. Therefore, my agency’s focus will continue to be public safety, apprehending actual criminals, and not attempting everyday citizens attempting to make a life for themselves and their families in Bernalillo County.”