David Clarke is a former sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, who rose to prominence on the international stage in 2016 when he showed strong support for then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the United States presidential campaign.
He’s more of a frequent guest on Fox News and was invited to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention despite his membership as a Democrat.
biography
David Clarke was born David Alexander Clarke Jr. on August 21, 1956 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the first son of his parents and has four other siblings. Clarke showed athletic ability from a young age when he played varsity basketball for Marquette University High School. He then attended the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, where he took a few courses before dropping out to become a beer truck driver.
When he turned 22 in 1978, David Clarke accepted a law enforcement job and transferred to the Milwaukee Police Department, where he served as a patrol officer. He served in that position for eleven years before being promoted to homicide detective and later to lieutenant detectives in 1993. In 1999, Clarke made captain when he went back to school and enrolled in the adult and continuing education school at Concordia University in Wisconsin, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management of Criminal Justice.
In March 2002, after the sudden resignation of Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum, Gov. Clarke named Clarke to succeed the former Milwaukee County sheriff. He was later elected to a full term that same year and subsequently re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014. While serving as a sheriff, Clarke enrolled at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and received a Masters in Security Studies in 2013.
The sheriff has been further in the news for his political views, which are right-wing and considered anti-racial. The African-American law enforcement officer caused an uproar when he said people of his ethnicity are lazy, morally bankrupt and selling drugs because they choose not to get an education. He has continued to attack the Black Lives Matter movement, which opposes the violence and abuse perpetrated against black people by the police. He described the organization as a hate group and even went so far as to claim that the movement is aligning with ISIS to destroy America.
David Clarke is also an outspoken gun control critic, publicly advocating for people to arm themselves because the government and police can no longer provide adequate protection.
David Clarke’s family – parents, wife (Julie), children
David Clarke was born to Jeri and David ClarkeSnr. Not much is known about his mother, however his father was in the military, a paratrooper with the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company who fought during the Korean War to be exact. After the war, Clarke Snr. returned to Milwaukee to work at the post office, during which time he and his wife settled down together.
Clarke Jr. is married to former court clerk Julie Clarke, who later became a real estate agent. The couple married in 1996 after meeting at the courthouse where she worked and Clarke serving as the case’s lead detective in a double murder trial. They have lived together on the Northwest side of Milwaukee since their marriage, where they built a home.
Although they have no children and are of different races, the couple always seemed very happy and supported each other as Julie Clarke usually appears alongside her husband at public events. However, it was reported in early 2018 that the former sheriff had filed for a divorce from his wife. The exact reason the marriage ended is not known, and at the time of writing, divorce proceedings are ongoing.