Sheriff Clarke to Face Trial For Calling a Man a “Snowflake” on Facebook

Former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke is facing trial for taunting a man on Facebook.

This feud between Clarke and a man named Daniel Black started a year ago when the two were on the same flight from Dallas to Milwaukee.

Clarke says while on the airplane, Daniel Black asked him, ‘Are you David Clarke?’ and when Clarke answered in the affirmative, Black shook his head.

Once the plane landed in Milwaukee, six Sheriff Deputies questioned Daniel Black. This prompted Black to file a complaint with the county of Milwaukee. Black then took to Facebook to complain about the incident. Sheriff Clarke subsequently responded to his Facebook post and called him a “snowflake”.

Sheriff Clarke now stands trial for ‘retaliating’ against this man on Facebook.

USA Today reported:

 A federal judge Friday dismissed most of a civil-rights lawsuit against former Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. over an incident at Milwaukee’s airport last year.

But a claim that Clarke retaliated on Facebook for Daniel Black’s exercise of his First Amendment right to shake his head at Clarke survives, and is now set for trial Jan. 22.

[…]

Black later posted on social media about the incident and filed a complaint with the county. Clarke responded on social media by calling Black a “Snowflake.”

The next month, Black sued Clarke and the six deputies, claiming violations of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure, retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights by having him stopped at the airport and the subsequent mockery on Facebook, and his due process rights under the 14th Amendment. The suit also sought to have the county held liable for Clarke’s actions.

In Friday’s 27-page order, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller granted summary judgment to Clarke on the Fourth and one of the First amendment claims, dismissed the 14th Amendment claim as “completely without merit” and dismissed the claim against the county and the six deputies, all originally identified as John Doe.

[…]

But the judge said a jury should decide whether Clarke’s reaction on Facebook was the kind of threat or intimidation that amounted to retaliation against Black. One post read, “Cheer up, snowflake … if Sheriff Clarke were to really harass you, you wouldn’t be around to whine about it.”

Sheriff Clarke was also recently temporarily banned from Twitter for an ‘offensive tweet’. As usual, social media only targets conservatives/Trump supporters for suspensions.

We are in scary times when a Facebook post or a Tweet can land us in court.

A California man was recently arrested and charged for posting 5 anti-Muslim Facebook posts to the Islamic Center of Southern California.

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Cristina began writing for The Gateway Pundit in 2016 and she is now the Associate Editor.

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Thanks for sharing!