WALKS LIKE A DUCK
The Trump/Vance election effort in parts of southeast Michigan seems to be cozying up to questionable law enforcement officials in a string of appearances of late in communities that have less than inviting reputations. Take the August 7 appearance by vice presidential hopeful JD Vance outside the Shelby Police Department. The police force there is headed by chief Robert J. Shelide who has developed (earned) a reputation as a fringe far-right official who has been criticized in the past for glorifying police brutality and the like. Shelby Township is viewed by many as a den of extreme Republicans. In a county that backed George Wallace in 1972, along with Oakland County, when Wallace won the presidential primary in Michigan that year. That pretty much tells you everything about the place. Then there was the August 20 so-called “press conference” by Donald Trump himself in the garage facility at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office which is headed by Republican sheriff Michael Murphy. Trump spoke for one hour and took one question in a room replete with sheriff cars and Trump election signs. The office of the sheriff is located in Howell where earlier this summer white supremacists held a march, with pro-Hitler and Trump chants, in the downtown area. Murphy’s involvement in the event brought some blow back in the community, which prompted him to resign from the board of directors of a non-profit group dedicated to the cause of abused children and victims of sexual and domestic violence. Both of these political events have drawn formal complaints (one for Shelby event and two for Howell) to the state Bureau of Elections for potential violation of Michigan Public Act 388 of 1976 which prohibits use of government personnel, buildings, vehicles and any supplies in support of a candidate. We and GOP members we consulted are still trying to square this effort to embrace law enforcement officials with a candidate who has promised to pardon the “patriots” convicted and imprisoned for their role in the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 during which 140 federal officers were injured.
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