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 Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s unfortunate legacy is still being dismantled after his failed re-election bid last November, but Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke has been all too willing to assume the unofficial Most Controversial Sheriff in America title. To that effect, he shall be protested by thousands of marchers and over 100 Milwaukee businesses on Monday. This mass protest arrives after a similar event in February, which saw a police estimation of 10,000 to 20,000 marchers take part to protest Clarke’s immigration stances. This time around, the stakes are arguably higher. 
 
 Two recent news stories have prompted the re-upped protest: (1) Clarke, who is being vetted for a Department of Homeland Security gig, vocalized his desire to have Milwaukee law enforcement aid ICE agents in accordance with the 287(g) program; (2) An inquest has shown that an inmate in Clarke’s jail died of dehydration in 2016 after being deprived of water for a week. The march is broadly known as the Wisconsin “Day without Latinxs, Immigrants and Refugees,” and CNN spoke to one of the protest’s organizers: 
 
 “Sheriff Clarke, right off the bat, really waved the flag to say we’re going to bring it to Milwaukee County,” Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, the immigrant rights group organizing the statewide march, said Sunday of the 287(g) program. “It basically legalizes racial profiling because you can be stopped and questioned and put in detention based on how you look,” she said. 
 
 With this protest, Milwaukee is poised to become the “national epicenter” to combat 287(g) because, as Neumann-Ortiz notes, Clarke gained national notoriety last summer for his outspoken support of then-Republican nominee Donald Trump. This endorsement even included “Blue Lives Matter” GOP convention speech to support Trump’s status as a so-called law-and-order candidate. Madison.com says that Monday’s protests are mainly geared toward preventing Clarke from putting 287(g) into action but will also serve as a general protest against Trump’s deportation practices as well. 
 
 (Via CNN, Madison.com & Fox News) 

 CLOSE It looks like Sheriff Clarke will be taking a position with the Department of Homeland Security. Dan Bice and Mary Spicuzza take a look back at one of Milwaukee’s most polarizing figures. 
 
 Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press) 
 
 Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said Wednesday he would leave office next month to accept a federal appointment as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 
 
 He said he would work in the department's Office of Partnership and Engagement as a liaison with state, local and tribal law enforcement and governments. 
 
 "I'm looking forward to joining that team," Clarke said Wednesday on Vicki McKenna's radio talk show on WISN-AM (1130). 
 
 Clarke campaigned around the country for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump last year and has defended the first-term Republican president against critics in the early months of his administration. 
 
 The fourth-term sheriff said he would start the job in June. 
 
 But as is common with the sheriff, there was drama with the appointment. It appears that Clarke may have gotten ahead of the Trump administration in his interview. 
 
 In a tweet, the Department of Homeland Security said no announcement had been made on any appointment involving Clarke. 
 
 Sr. positions are announced when made official by the Sec. No such announcement w/ regard to the Office of Public Engagement has been made. — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 17, 2017 
 
 RELATED: White House considers Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke for post in Homeland Security 
 
 RELATED: Clarke passed over for Trump cabinet post 
 
 OPINION: Clarke's departure will be good for department and Milwaukee County 
 
 Also, the federal staffer being replaced by Clarke — Philip A. McNamara, assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs — took to Twitter to complain about his successor. 
 
 I'm being replaced @DHSgov by #SheriffClarke. My job was to work with state and local officials. Clarke says he wants to strangle #Democrats — Phil McNamara (@philindc) May 17, 2017 
 
 Clarke previously had not indicated whether he planned to seek re-election. 
 
 He has come under widespread criticism locally for his inflammatory rhetoric and for spending so much time on the road as a Trump surrogate and while giving talks to conservative groups. 
 
 Clarke also has been criticized for his lack of public comments in his response to four deaths in the County Jail in 2016 or any administrative changes he might have made there. 
 
 His new federal job will not require Senate confirmation. 
 
 Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, who often crossed swords with the sheriff, said America deserves better than Clarke in this new post. 
 
 "For the country I love, the last thing America needs is another loud voice angrily and unproductively telling you who to blame and who not to trust," Abele said in a statement. 
 
 In the new job, one of Clarke's responsibilities would be to "take complaints of shortcomings in the Department of Homeland Security," the sheriff said. 
 
 "They feel like they're being ignored," Clarke said of his counterparts in local law enforcement. 
 
 POLITIFACT: Sheriff Clarke's file 
 
 RELATED: Ongoing Sheriff Clarke coverage 
 
 Clarke will work for Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired Marine general. 
 
 The department was created in the wake of 9/11. The department's duties range from counterterrorism to enforcing immigration laws. 
 
 Clarke said he had informed Gov. Scott Walker of his decision to take the federal post and expected to advise Walker on the appointment of a successor to complete his term. 
 
 Tom Evenson, spokesman for Walker, said his office had not yet received a formal resignation letter from Clarke. The search for a successor, Evenson said, won't begin until Walker's office receives that notice. 
 
 Once that happens, the governor will seek applications, a process that usually takes a couple of weeks, and then begin interviewing candidates. Applicants must live in Milwaukee County to be appointed to the post. 
 
 "The timeline for replacing a county sheriff varies with each case," Evenson said. 
 
 Clarke's successor will serve until the end of the current term in 2018. 
 
 Former Milwaukee Police Capt. Earnell Lucas, now a vice president of security with Major League Baseball, said Wednesday he would submit his name to Walker for appointment to the office. 
 
 "I have a deep and abiding commitment to this community and the right experience in law enforcement and public safety to be the next Milwaukee County sheriff," Lucas said. 
 
 Lucas has registered as a candidate for sheriff in 2018. He plans to run in the Democratic primary. 
 
 Milwaukee County Judge John Siefert said he also plans to run as a Democrat for sheriff next year. But, unlike Lucas, he will not seek an appointment from Walker. 
 
 "I assume the governor will insist that his appointee run as a Republican," said Siefert, whose term ends in July. "I would not run as a Republican." 
 
 Also being mentioned as a possible candidate is U.S. Marshal Kevin Carr, who served as Clarke's top deputy for several years. He could not be reached for comment. 
 
 Clarke, a conservative who runs as a Democrat, has been elected four times. 
 
 He was first appointed sheriff in 2002 and won election to a full four-year term later that year. 
 
 He defeated challenger Chris Moews in the August 2014 Democratic primary to ensure re-election to a fourth term. No Republican challenged Clarke for the office that year, and he enjoyed conservative support. 
 
 Clarke told McKenna that he "would miss law enforcement" after a 38-year career. 
 
 He started as a patrol officer with the Milwaukee Police Department in 1978. Clarke was promoted to detective in 1989 and became lieutenant of detectives in 1992. 
 
 In 1996, Clarke was promoted to police captain and named commander of the department's 1st District. He became commanding officer of the department's intelligence division in 1999. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://jsonl.in/2qSwZw8 

 Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke David Clarke appears on Fox Business News on Sept. 21, 2016. (Media Matters) 
 
 A former member of Attorney Gen. Jeff Sessions’ Senate staff and aide to several Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent out a viciously anti-immigrant, Latino-bashing email in the name of fundraising for a U.S. Senate campaign by Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, a darling of right-wing media. 
 
 The trouble is, according to Mother Jones magazine, Clarke — who bills himself as “the black Rush Limbaugh with a badge” — isn’t running for a U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin or any other state. But that’s not slowing down Jack Daly, who has joined together with a cabal of right-wing pundits and reality TV stars urging Clarke to run for higher office. 
 
 The email — one of a series sent out by Daly — was sent out May 6 and echoes the type of nativist anti-immigrant rhetoric that President Donald Trump used to kick off his campaign in June of 2015. 
 
 In a rant about Milwaukee County and its decision to be a so-called “sanctuary city,” Daly — who lives in North Carolina — wrote, “Remember: the hard Left nimrods running Milwaukee’s government have declared Milwaukee a ‘Sanctuary City’ and the schools ‘Sanctuary Schools’ — safe havens where illegals who have been convicted of murder, gun running, dope dealing, rape, and robbery since coming to American unlawfully can hide for the rest of their natural lives, or until they themselves get murdered in another drug deal gone bad.” 
 
 Daly called a recent demonstration against Clarke a “revolting display of anarchy” attended by “tens of thousands of assorted criminals, illegal aliens, deportables, and miscellaneous Mexican flag-waving types,” as well as “confused and marginalized American university professors, pot heads, and other miscreants.” 
 
 Daly simultaneously claimed that protesters were bused in from other cities, but that also “Milwaukee seems to be full of godless liberals whose main fetish is to harbor these criminal illegals, and help them escape from justice.” 
 
 He went on to fan the flames of his readers’ grievance by telling them that “illegals” are stealing their tax dollars. 
 
 “You paid for their food and their shelter and their medical care while they were in the jail, and for welfare for their dependents and free public education for their kids,” he said. “And when you were their victims, you paid with your property or your lives.” 
 
 Clarke is a favorite guest on conservative media, which extend a perennial welcome to any black conservatives who will spout negative talking points about liberals. 
 
 However, he is highly controversial in Milwaukee County, where county medical examiner Brian Petersen alleges that Clarke threatened him in an effort to suppress a coroner’s office report that a 26-year-old inmate died of dehydration under Clarke’s jurisdiction in the Milwaukee County Jail. 
 
 Four people — including a newborn baby — have died in the Milwaukee County Jail since Clarke became sheriff. Accusing Clarke of “gross mismanagement,” state legislators have called for Clarke to resign. 
 
 Last month, a “Joy Reid Show” panel mocked Clarke — who was polling at 31 percent approval among voters — as headed for electoral defeat. 
 
 Democratic Wisconsin state Senator Lena Taylor laughingly called Clarke “all hat and no cattle.” 

 FILE - In this July 18, 2016 file photo, Milwaukee County, Wis. Sheriff David Clarke speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Clarke says he's taken a job as an assistant secretary in... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this July 18, 2016 file photo, Milwaukee County, Wis. Sheriff David Clarke speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Clarke says he's taken a job as an assistant secretary in... (Associated Press) 
 
 MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Latest on Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke announcing he is moving to the Department of Homeland Security (all times local): 
 
 4:30 p.m. 
 
 The Department of Homeland Security has declined to confirm that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke will be joining the agency. 
 
 Clarke said in an interview on WISN-AM on Wednesday that he had taken a job as assistant secretary and would start in June. Clarke says he would be serving as a liaison to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. 
 
 DHS spokeswoman Jenny Burke says those appointments are made by the Homeland Security secretary and are announced only when they've been made official. Burke says the department has no such announcement about Clarke. 
 
 Clarke has become a conservative darling through his provocative social media presence and was a strong supporter of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:13 p.m. 
 
 Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke says he's taken a job as an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. 
 
 The conservative firebrand told WISN-AM talk radio host Vicki McKenna on Wednesday that he will work in the Office of Partnership and Engagement as a liaison to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. He says he will start in June. 
 
 A DHS spokesman didn't immediately reply to a phone message and email. 
 
 Clarke has become a conservative darling through his provocative social media presence and was a strong supporter of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. 
 
 The appointment comes just two weeks after an inquest into the dehydration death of an inmate at the Milwaukee County Jail recommended criminal charges against as many as seven staffers. Clarke wasn't among them. 

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 MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said Wednesday, May 17th that he will resign in June so he can accept a position in President Donald Trump's administration. 
 
 Clarke, who has been one of President Trump's strongest supporters, will leave behind multiple investigations into deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail and a harassment complaint filed against him. The sheriff has become a conservative star nationally as the controversy swirled locally. 
 
 Clarke told WISN 1130/AM host Vicki McKenna that he would be an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, where he'll act as a liaison to local and state law enforcement, tribes, and the private sector. The position will be in the Office of Public Partnership and Engagement. 
 
 "I’m both honored and humbled to be apt to this position," Clarke said. "It’s going to be a steep learning curve for me, serving in the Department of Homeland Security, and I look forward to joining that team." 
 
 DHS declined to confirm Clarke's appointment on Wednesday. 
 
 "Senior positions are announced when made official by the secretary," DHS officials tweeted after Clarke went on the radio. "No such announcement with regard to the Office of Public Engagement has been made." 
 
 Sr. positions are announced when made official by the Sec. No such announcement w/ regard to the Office of Public Engagement has been made. — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 17, 2017 
 
 Gov. Scott Walker said he had not received a resignation letter from Clarke as of Wednesday afternoon. Walker would have to appoint a new Milwaukee County sheriff. 
 
 "The announcement obviously has been made media-wise, but until I physically get (a letter) in our office, our clock doesn't start ticking," Walker told reporters while touring tornado damage in Barron County. 
 
 Clarke told McKenna that he'd discussed the potential appointment with Walker months ago. He said he wanted to have input in who Walker names as his replacement. 
 
 "I convinced people to vote for me, I’m the one that raised this money to get elected, so I would like to think my input would have some validity and would be taken into serious account," Clarke said. 
 
 Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said he was "genuinely excited" to work with a new sheriff, but criticized Clarke's appointment to a federal position. 
 
 "The last thing America needs is another loud voice angrily and unproductively telling you who to blame and who not to trust," Abele said in an emailed statement. 
 
 Voces de la Frontera, a pro-immigrant group in Milwaukee, called on Walker to appoint a sheriff would would end collaboration with federal immigration agents and support changes to prevent further deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail. Clarke should face criminal charges for the jail deaths, the group said in a statement. 
 
 Clarke's position within DHS does not require U.S. Senate confirmation. (CLICK HERE for an organizational chart showing the different offices and positions within the department.) 
 
 Clarke has served as Milwaukee County sheriff since 2002. He spent more than two decades before that with the Milwaukee Police Department, rising to the rank of captain. 
 
 Clarke has made himself a darling of the political right through his brash social media presence, his staunch support for President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and his support for patrolling of Muslim neighborhoods. He's one of the most polarizing figures in Wisconsin politics. 
 
 Clarke was one of the few African-Americans to speak at the Republican Party convention last year. He has been vocal about gun rights and critical of what he called the "hateful ideology" of the Black Lives Matters movement, saying at times, "Stop trying to fix the police, fix the ghetto." 
 
 A lengthy inquest into the dehydration death of a Milwaukee County Jail inmate raised troubling questions about how Clarke manages the jail, just as the White House was said to be considering him for the job. Seven jail staffers could face criminal charges after the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office outlined a case for the jury suggesting that disobedient inmates were routinely deprived of water as punishment and pleas for help were ignored. 
 
 Clarke wasn't among the seven staffers on the jury's list because prosecutors say he wasn't directly involved in the events that led to the death last year of 38-year-old Terrill Thomas, who was deprived of water for seven days. But the death happened under his leadership, which his critics said was sufficient cause for Clarke to be fired. Clarke has said little about Thomas' death. 
 
 Three members of Clarke's command staff have retired or resigned since late March. 
 
 Despite the investigation into his jail, Clarke remained popular with many conservatives, including some who had been trying to get him to run for U.S. Senate next year against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. 
 
 Last year, the frequent Fox News guest earned more than $105,000 in speaking fees — almost as much as his sheriff's salary — at more than three dozen events across the country.
– Controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. says he's accepted a position in the Department of Homeland Security, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Clarke said on a radio talk show Wednesdsay that he'd be leaving his position as sheriff next month to work as an assistant secretary in DHS' Office of Partnership and Engagement, Fox 6 reports. He'll act as a liaison between DHS and state and local law enforcement and governments. The AP notes that DHS has so far declined to confirm his appointment. Clarke, who has been sheriff since 2002, was recently the subject of mass protests over a number of issues, including the death of a Milwaukee County Jail inmate who was allegedly denied water for a week. Per the Raw Story, there have been calls for Clarke to resign since four people, including a baby, died in the jail since he took office.