By Dane County Det. Anthony Hamilton

MADISON — It’s what you would expect from the cancel culture. If you run against dirty cops, political favoritism, and selective “Woke” policing, you will pay the price.

I knew when I decided to run for office against a very liberal sheriff appointed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, that there would be political retaliation. Recently, appointed Sheriff Kalvin Barrett had me walked out of the sheriff’s department, where I am a detective with 14 years of experience, and placed on administrative leave.

I exposed the cover-up of an illegal search and seizure in progressive Madison. That’s more than a campaign talking point. I backed up that accusation with a lawsuit in federal court, and two days later I was shown the door. Silencing political opponents is something that typically happens in third world countries by dictators looking to squash free speech, but it’s now happening in Dane County.

In addition, I disclosed photographs of the incumbent sheriff posing with a pedophile, even as the FBI, U.S. Marshals, and my fellow deputies were hunting him down. After his arrest, Sheriff Barrett interceded on his behalf with the state Department of Corrections, asking if they really were going to press charges.

Gov. Tony Evers posed with the same pedophile  Birds of a feather: in four years, Evers appointed Parole Commission has released 884 convicted criminals, including more than 270 murderers and attempted murderers, and more than 44 child rapists

When Evers’ appointed sheriff isn’t slapping a GPS ankle bracelet on criminals and releasing them back into the community, he is mandating that the people in his jail are no longer “inmates” but “residents.” Are mints on the pillow next?!

Sheriff Barrett’s latest stunt comes from former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s playbook: a gun buyback! Does anyone really believe fentanyl dealers voluntarily disarmed for a gas coupon?

In order to make his hiring numbers conform to identity politics, he’s bypassing otherwise qualified applicants. Result: the number of deputies is down at least 10 percent below authorized strength, which presents a real danger to public safety.

In the post George Floyd chaos of the summer of 2020, emboldened by weak policing in the area, one man  even began shaking down downtown restaurant owners for beer and cash — in the name of racial justice. Armed with a bullhorn and a baseball bat, he proclaimed, “The cops are on our side. You notice that when you call them, nothing happens to us.” When the man was finally arrested, on orders from the Republican-appointed federal prosecutor, the shakedown artist thought to cry out “I can’t breathe.”

That June night,  self-proclaimed social justice warriors toppled statues of an abolitionist killed fighting the Confederacy and of a feminist figure embodying the state’s motto, “Forward.” Windows in the state Capitol Square were smashed. A state legislator who tried to record the chaos — a gay Democrat — was beaten. All because law enforcement was told to stand down. Police couldn’t even defend city hall; it was firebombed.

That’s why I am running as a Republican for sheriff in the most liberal county in Wisconsin. I’m betting that voters — even in Madison — are tired of the chaos in our schools, where police officers are expelled but not unruly students, and on our streets, increasingly littered with shell casings. In Madison, the incidence of property crime is nearly double that of the rest of the state. Auto theft has doubled in the last five years.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion warriors are still at it. The City Council is poised to ban tear gas — a safe, non-lethal tool to deter mob violence. If I am elected sheriff, I’ll use tear gas when appropriate, before we become another Portland, Seattle, or Kenosha, Wis. — because public safety is the most precious civil right.

Det. Anthony Hamilton is the Republican candidate for Dane County Sheriff.

Empower Wisconsin | Sept. 19, 2022