As rioting and looting have become near commonplace in cities like Portland, Oregon, and others, it’s nice to see that isn’t possible everywhere, at least if the right leaders are put in place.
Take Maricopa County, Arizona, for example.
Maricopa is the state’s most populous county and the home of Phoenix and its some 1.68 million residents. Here, the office of sheriff is soon to be up for grabs. And in the running is a man who has promised to make sure rioting is not at all tolerated, and that punishment for it will be severe.
Meet GOP candidate Jerry Sheridan.
Sheridan has been on the Maricopa police force for some 33 years and even held the position of Chief Deputy for a short time under longtime former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. But it’s not his experience on the job that is earning him a formidable reputation.
It’s his stance on law and order and his unwillingness to give even an inch when it comes to keeping his would-be citizens safe.
For Sheridan, he believes that the job of sheriff is to “protect property and life” in his county. And he is prepared to do just that.
He told Breitbart News in a recent interview, “I will enforce people’s constitutional rights to peaceably protest. However, as soon as someone throws a rock or a bottle, that is no longer a peaceful protest. I will declare it an unlawful assembly and immediately disperse the crowd before it becomes a riot.”
But that’s far from the extent he is willing to take it.
In addition, he says, “I will have jail buses, that we transport inmates in, lined up in rows to arrest the people who do disperse.”
“I’m not fooling around with this.”
Now, at this point, it’s unlikely Maricopa County would need to enact this kind of action any time soon. As it stands now, the county is becoming more and more liberal every month, as the population grows. However, it is still a place where Trump beat Hillary in 2016, if not be very much, and where the last GOP sheriff held office a mere four years ago.
In addition, the county has really only seen one major riot since the death of George Floyd in late May, the unfortunate looting of a Scottsdale mall. And since then, 55 people have been arrested on charges related to that riot. So it’s not as though law and order is lacking in the county at the moment.
However, Sheridan wants the people to know that, under his time in office, their safety and well-being would be his top priority.
He told Breitbart, “These rioters, they don’t just attack Republican businesses. They don’t just attack and destroy and burn and loot businesses in wealthy communities. They attack, especially small business owners that probably have their life savings, their life work in these places, (rioters) don’t discriminate. They tear them all down, and it’s my job as the sheriff to protect everybody.”
Maybe if Democratic leaders like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had stood up at the beginning of the protest movement and declared similar intentions, or even just denounced the rioting and chaos, areas like Portland, Seattle, and Chicago wouldn’t have seen the destruction and loss of life that they have.
But no, it has taken the presidential nominee and his chosen VP more than three months to do so. Biden says he wants to “be clear” about rioting being lawlessness. But if that’s the case why didn’t he take a stand against it before now?
And Harris hasn’t been any clearer about the situation. While she has recently come out against the rioting in weeks past, she is also funding the bailout of thousands of “protesters” in Minnesota who have been arrested for riot-related charges.
Seems like Sheridan has the best idea – nip it in the bud before it even really begins. If the citizens of Maricopa County are wise, they will elect him as sheriff to ensure their protection.
