The CSPOA promoted longtime staffer and self-professed “constitutional scholar” Sam Bushman to CEO, while adding members of the more radical division to a newly created advisory board to promote their ideology and influence. strengthened both their positions and perspectives on efforts to expandall over the United States

The group continues to focus on recruiting and training law enforcement, but building on the momentum it gained during the pandemic, it has expanded its online resources to better reach the general public, including local elected officials. We are also planning to increase it.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s basically a hate group, and why would law enforcement want to consider themselves (part of it)?” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, a Democrat, Asked to be an outspoken critic of far-right sheriff movements, including the CSPOA. “There are a lot of sheriffs in this state who need to rethink their positions from an ideological standpoint.”

The so-called “constitutional sheriff” organization, which has consistently refuted allegations of having racist ties, seeks to override state and federal powers, including mandates to override laws. Best known for his controversial legal theory about sheriff’s authority. they interpret as unconstitutional.

This group is anti-vaccination and election denial, eventually presenting the Sheriff as a solution. urged sheriffs to reject mandatory COVID-19 mask mandates and garnered public support for them to investigate uncovered allegations of widespread voter fraud;

Bushman, who served as the CSPOA’s national operations director before being promoted, has so far largely escaped public scrutiny. He is a Utah-based program that regularly advocates for anti-LGBTQ content and syndicates the white supremacist show “Political Cesspool,” in addition to other shows that promote “God, Family, Country.” hosts the online talk show “Liberty Roundtable”.

CSPOA founder and former Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack has officially stepped down from managing the group’s day-to-day operations to take a position with America’s Frontline Doctors, the controversial anti-Vaxer organization. Experts say Mack will use his new role to further strengthen his support for the CSPOA, while maintaining control as chairman of the new advisory board and continuing to speak at CSPOA trainings. I doubt it.

Researchers of domestic extremism say such training is riddled with misinformation designed to radicalize participants, and that police ties to white supremacist or far-right extremist groups are illegal. It warned that it would undermine the public’s confidence in the enforcement agencies.

That collapse of trust exacerbates the entire police problem and reduces the ability of officers to provide public safety, said former FBI special agent Michael Jarman. Brennan Justice CenterFreedom and National Security Programs.

“White supremacy in the United States has been reinforced by those with badges throughout its history. We have to accept that history for the sake of it,” German says.

a Recent National Survey A survey conducted by the Marshall Project and political scientists at Texas Christian University and Tulane University found that nearly half of the 500 sheriffs who completed the survey said the powers of sheriffs in the county were overridden by state or federal authority. I found that I agree with the CSPOA’s main claim that it replaces

In Arizona, a previous AZCIR study found: more than half Of the state’s 15 county sheriffs, at least partially aligned with some of the key ideologies of the so-called “constitutional sheriff” movement, at least four of whom are based in the CSPOA or Arizona It is directly related to another “constitutional sheriff” group. , save America now.

CSPOA has been denied approval to provide Continuing Education Credit Certification Training in 2021 by the Arizona state law enforcement agency, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.but Recent rule change Decisions about what training officers and lieutenants receive now fall to the heads of sheriffs and other agencies.

In Texas, it operates under similar regulations. over 20 A recent NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth survey found that five state-elected sheriffs have attended CSPOA training.

And in Illinois, about 80% of state sheriffs have voiced their opposition to the state’s “assault weapons” ban, with most claiming it violates residents’ Second Amendment rights. It cites a “constitutional obligation” not to enforce the law. playbook.

“People become law enforcement officers, and their very specific duty is to enforce the law, not to enact the law, not to litigate the law, which is already decided under the Constitution. It’s not about determining what’s really legal versus what’s illegal,” said investigative analyst Rachel Goldwasser. Southern Poverty Law Center“The fact that more and more law enforcement officers appear to say they have no intention of doing their job is a problem.”

Since the CSPOA was founded in 2011, Mack has faced criticism for sharing the stage with prominent anti-Semites, white supremacists and militia members. He has consistently denied accepting or promoting their ideology, including examples in his lectures depicting scenarios in which a fictional constitutional sheriff stands up for Rosa Parks. I am going to

But as soon as Bushman was promoted to CEO, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf An outspoken election denier from Michigan, he is known to have ties to another anti-government group.

According to Goldwasser, Bushman’s Liberty News Radio actively promotes white nationalism by syndicating “political cesspools.”

Additionally, Bushman’s personal show, the Liberty Roundtable, has provided a platform for various rebels, including the founder of the Oath Keeper. stewart rose The night before the January 6 riots. In November, Rhodes convicted Seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the Capitol raid – denounced by both sentencing Bushman and Mack.

Bushman wrote in an email reply that he encourages different types of people to speak on his show because he believes in the First Amendment. He did not respond to characterizations about his show or syndicate his program “Political Cesspool” discussing anti-LGBTQ topics, instead, in his AZCIR reports to date, he or his It said it believed it contained “dishonest fabrications” that did not represent the views of the CSPOA.

Rural Michigan Sheriff Reef, one of four incumbents appointed to a new advisory board, seeks to investigate widely uncovered election fraud allegations from the 2020 election He was one of the first CSPOA sheriffs. By the end of 2022, he was the subject of an investigation by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel over charges that he involved activists illegally accessing voting equipment in an attempt to find evidence of fraud.

The Leaf’s new status on the CSPOA also provides a direct link to the National Liberty Alliance, a group labeled as an anti-government sovereign civil society organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.of National Liberties LeagueWebsite of dispute the characterizationciting their differences from its anti-government stance sovereign citizena person who believes that they are exempt from the authority of the U.S. government.

But Peroutka is the most important name on the list of advisory board members, said Devin Burghart’s president and executive director. Human Rights Education Institutean organization that tracks far-right movements.

Burghart explained that Peroutka’s presence on the board clearly shows that the organization is “no longer trying to hide its ties to the far right” but is “institutionalizing” them. .

Peroutka, a staple of major CSPOA events, was nominated by the Republican Party to be Maryland’s Attorney General in 2022 and was previously a member of: League of the South, a neoconfederate, white supremacist group that advocates segregation in the South. he also Constitutional Instituteprovides constitutional interpretation through an “American view” of law and government based on three fundamental principles: God exists. The rights of US citizens come from this god. “The purpose of civil government is to secure and protect our God-given rights.”

“We are increasingly conducting Michael’s training as an extension of the in-person training we started,” Bushman said in a January broadcast of the Liberty Roundtable with Peroutka as a guest. We will work on it.

During the show, Peroutka said the training he and the CSPOA provide to sheriffs and deputies would educate county residents in a broader effort to “raise the level of constitutional understanding” among the public. He shared his vision of the situation adapted by those agencies.