MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office posted a meme on its Facebook page Thursday featuring the picture of a Milwaukee man who filed a complaint against the sheriff earlier this week.
The image says "Cheer up snowflake...If Sheriff Clarke were to really mess with you, you wouldn't be around to whine about it."
The dispute between the sheriff and the man in question, Dan Black, goes back to last weekend, when Black encountered the sheriff at the Dallas airport for a flight back to Milwaukee.
Black says he saw someone who looked like the sheriff dressed in Dallas Cowboys gear, so he asked if he was Sheriff Clarke. The sheriff said he was, and asked Black if he had a problem.
Black says he simply shook his head and continued walking. When he landed in Milwaukee, he was interrogated by sheriff's deputies and escorted from the airport - something Black called an abuse of power in the complaint he filed Wednesday.
In his response to the complaint Wednesday, Clarke said "next time he or anyone else pulls this stunt on a plane they may get knocked out."
Some people thought a public official shouldn't be making those comments.
"That's messed up. That's not cool at all," said Jermone Foeschwatts.
"I just feel like it's like cyberbullying," said Diamond Tomlinson, a Milwaukee resident.
But others thought it was a joke.
"Yeah, I'd probably say the same thing too so," said Mike Anderson, a Dodge County resident.
Dan Black did not think the meme about him was funny. His lawyer, William F. Sulton, put out a statement that said, "Citizens should be able to complain about public officials without fear of retaliation. Sheriff Clarke's statements are coldly calculated to intimidate Mr. Black with physical violence for engaging in Constitutionally protected activity. Law enforcement simply do not have license to beat up citizens for whatever perceived slight. Mr. Black will preemptively stop Sheriff Clarke's attacks with the full force of the legal system. In addition to protecting Mr. Black’s rights, we will work to ensure that Mr. Black is safe from the dangers caused by Sheriff Clarke’s promotion of violence."
Sheriff Clarke was asked about the incident and his only reply was, "Make America great again."
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