Top police commentator visits Flathead Valley
<p><strong>Sheriff David Clarke Jr</strong>. was presented with a NEMO Arms rifle by Paul Vallely and Adyn and Josh Sonju.</p>
An appreciative Flathead Valley crowd on Tuesday heard Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke Jr. talk about the role of the Constitution and law enforcement issues in the country.
“It was a great event with huge turnout,” Clarke said. “I was blown away by that.”
It was Clarke’s first visit to Montana. In addition to visiting Glacier National Park, he said he enjoyed meeting people in the crowd of around 400.
Clarke said he spoke with Montanans and found that they are like many of the people he encounters at talks across the nation.
“I just sense in many of the people I got to meet last night, there’s a sense of anxiety about where we are as a nation,” Clarke said Wednesday.
He tries to quell their fears by pointing out that the United States has withstood a revolution, civil war, two worldwide wars and a Great Depression.
“We are a resilient country,” Clarke said. “I remind them that we came through that and came through as a stronger nation.”
He said his talks are meant to unite instead of dividing the nation.
Clarke is serving his fourth consecutive term as sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and is host of a weekly podcast on Glenn Beck’s The Blaze Radio network.
Clarke’s talk was hosted by conservative groups Stand Up America and Glacial Forum.
“It was great,” Stand Up America Founder and Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely said of the event.
In addition to Clarke’s talk, Vallely and local rifle company NEMO Arms presented Clarke with a rifle. Clarke called the rifle “fine” and posed for a picture sent out to his thousands of Twitter followers shortly thereafter.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.