By Janette Ansolabehere
In the 70s and 80s, the Posse Comitatus (“power of the county”) movement founded by a self-ordained minister, William Potter Gale, began to spread. Gale argued that elected sheriffs had the power under Posse Comitatus to override federal rules and use the power to resist school desegregation. It led to violence, including the death of two US. Marshals. Gales was subsequently convicted of mailing death threats to IRS agents and a judge. The movement is now led by a retired Arizona sheriff, Richard Mack. According to Mack, “The federal government, the White House, or Congress do not hire us, they cannot fire us, and they cannot tell us what to do.” (The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope 2009). The claim is that a sheriff is only accountable to his or her voters, not to judges or legislatures including other branches of government. Bluntly put, an elected sheriff can ignore federal and state laws and administrative rules as well a judicial decisions. However, the Posse Comitatus doctrine has been rejected by the courts up to this point. Nevertheless, the Posse Comitatus movement could pose a serious threat to effective and unbiased law enforcement given the Nation’s current divisive political climate as already seen in groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the neo-nazi and white supremacist groups.
The Posse Comitatus movement is spreading in Texas. In 2021 the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) held a meeting in 2021 in the Woodlands attended by 27 Texas sheriffs and deputies. The CSPOA has held several training sessions in Texas, reportedly attended by 50 sheriffs, many of who also sent multiple employees to the sessions. Fees and expenses are paid by the sheriff’s offices, in other words, taxpayers. Speakers include Attorney General Ken Paxton, former state Senator Dan Huffines, and state Senator Bob Hall. Attendees received continuing education credit required by the Texas Commission on law Enforcement (TCOLE), although the agency is currently investigating the training after a complaint by the Anti-Defamation League.
The movement appears to be gaining ground. According to Kirk Launias, who unsuccessfully
ran for Dallas County sheriff and is the Texas CSPOA Director, has indicated that CSPOA plans to expand its presence in the state. Although not all the sheriffs who attend the training sessions believe that can simply ignore laws, experts in extremism fear that the ideas that CSPOA promulgates could imbue fringe beliefs into government policies. Indeed, some attendees have used what they learned to speak out to support policies aligned with a right-wing agenda or that they personally support. Some Texas sheriffs have been informally involved with private militias to patrol the border and interdict illegal immigrants. Other sheriffs are publicly urging Texas sheriffs to join with the Houston-based group, True The Vote, which has promoted election fraud conspiracies.
Further reading:
Against All Enemies: Full Series – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (nbcdfw.com) ”Against All Enemies” is a special investigative report done by NBC 5 DFW on the Constitutional movement in Texas. Approximately 59 minutes long.
Scary stuff.