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Richard Mack leads a network of sheriffs across the country who hold a bold belief: They say their powers supersede those of the president and the Supreme Court.
The so-called constitutional sheriffs movement is rooted in a far-right ideology promulgated by the virulently racist Posse Comitatus movement. A core tenant of Posse Comitatus was a reverence for county-level law enforcement, specifically elected sheriffs. According to the ideology, a sheriff could interpose – or block – federal and state laws, so long as those laws were deemed “unconstitutional.” Posse Comitatus ideals spread throughout the West, inspiring sovereign citizen and militia movements.
As a sheriff in Arizona, Mack made his name opposing gun control. Then, during the pandemic, he led protests against vaccines and masks. Today, his group has been energized by a new cause: former President Donald Trump’s Big Lie.
Reporter Jessica Pishko has been following the movement for years, attending big rallies and the small biweekly meetings of far-right groups. As she reports for us, these sheriffs are teaming up with far-right groups in an intense, concerted push to monitor absentee ballot drop boxes.
To be clear, sheriffs do not have authority over elections, which are run by county recorders or other local officials. Once there is a criminal complaint, sheriffs, as law enforcement officials, can sometimes investigate these violations, which are sometimes felonies carrying prison time.
But the specter of coordination between legitimate law enforcement – which has the backing of law, courts and taxpayer-funded weapons – and militia-inspired vigilantes raises increasing concerns about voter intimidation heading into next week’s midterm elections and beyond. It also hints at a schism beyond repair. As the leader of one group affiliated with the Oath Keepers militia said at a recent meeting focused on voter fraud: “This nation is divided. … That is leading to civil unrest and eventually a civil war.”
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