Written with contribution from Sheriff David Clarke
While many Americans are completely ignorant of the functions of our federal republic, it is more important than ever to realize that tyrannical laws are only effective if they’re actually enforced or followed.
Governors have only a limited number of their own personal forces of storm troopers in the form of state police to enact their draconian COVID restrictions. What they need for effective statewide enforcement requires compliant police and sheriffs’ departments to actually show up to either issue citations or arrest citizens who violate state mandates.
A governor has plenty of methods at their disposal to pressure law enforcement into acting on mask mandates, restrictions on gatherings and businesses, and curfew orders, but the fact remains that chiefs of police and sheriffs are still well within their authority through the legal use of discretion, to refuse to violate the constitutional rights of the residents of their jurisdictions. With finite resources, law enforcement executives cannot do everything. They get to decide how to allocate personnel and what these officers spend their time working on.
This is exactly what is happening in California—and it is something that needs to start happening in many, many more localities around the country.
California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom is attempting to lockdown Californians again in light of supposed surging COVID-19 cases. One Sheriff in the state, however, is speaking out and says he won’t allow Newsom to use his office as “muscle” to enforce the oppressive orders.
On Friday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced in a video that he will not be enforcing COVID-19 mandates that restrict businesses and require residents to stay home in the event that the intensive care unit capacity drops below 15% in some areas.
The Sheriff also criticized authorities who threatened to withhold state funding from counties who refused to comply with virus restrictions and rules in early September pointing out that “ironically” it wasn’t that long ago that Governor Newsom himself said it wrong of President Trump to threaten to withhold funding from states who were not complying with federal law.
“These closures and these stay-at-home orders are flat-out ridiculous,” Bianco said in the video. “The metrics used for closures are unbelievably faulty and are not representative of true numbers and are disastrous for Riverside County.”
He also said that when the medical professionals are so split on the virus “it might be time to employ a little common sense”
Sheriff Bianco also pointed out how “extremely hypocritical” Newsom has been throughout the pandemic. Newsom has been seen dining at the luxurious French Laundry despite strict COVID rules at the time and early in the pandemic he made sure that the winery he co-founded was allowed to stay open while many others were forced to close.
“The dictatorial attitude toward California residents while dining in luxury, traveling, keeping his business open and sending his kids to in-person, private schools is very telling about his attitude toward California residents, his feelings about the virus, and it is extremely hypocritical,” Bianco said.
“It appears part of the new goal is to shift attention away from his and others personal behavior with a ‘do as I say, not as I do attitude’ by turning public opinion against California sheriffs.”
“He is expecting us to arrest anyone violating these orders, cite them and take their money, close their businesses, make them stay in their homes and take away their civil liberties or he will punish all of us,” he continued. “I believe that all jobs are essential to someone.”
The Sheriff pointed out that “leaders do not threaten, attempt to intimidate, or cause fear. Bullies do.”
“While the governor’s office and the state has threatened action against violators, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will not be blackmailed, bullied or used as muscle against Riverside County residents in the enforcement of the governor’s orders,” he concluded.
California voters elected Newsom for some crazy reason. Maybe it’s time for them to un-elect him.
"*" indicates required fields
