RantCrush Top 5: May 22, 2017

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has been in the news lately after he announced that he would be the new assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. But on Saturday, CNN broke the story that he plagiarized parts of his master’s thesis in 2013. Clarke is a vocal critic of Black Lives Matter and has been accused of human rights abuses after several deaths of inmates in his prisons, including Terrill Thomas who died of thirst last spring. Thomas’ death was ruled a homicide, but Clarke has still not publicly commented.

Reminder that @SheriffClarke never served in the military but just dresses up to look like it. Veterans are starting to speak out on it. pic.twitter.com/t9uvHPKxvl

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 19, 2017

After CNN’s report, the school where Clarke got his master’s degree in security studies, the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, took down the thesis from its online database and said it was under review. Clarke’s own explanation was that “only someone with a political agenda would say this is plagiarism.” He called Andrew Kaczynski, the reporter who wrote the story, a “sleaze bag” and said that he is “on to him.” Clarke recently claimed that he has been appointed to a role in the Department of Homeland Security, but that information has still not been confirmed.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.