Sheriff David Clarke was a featured speaker at the American Freedom Tour event that took place in Jacksonville on Oct. 8-9.

In his speech, Clarke emphasized the primacy of the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

Major shifts in our nation’s history have not been enacted through executive orders or mandates from federal agencies. They have come about through the Constitution, including the dozens of amendments added to it. We really need to more highly value our Constitution, and the process for amending it.

And we need to take to the streets to promote adherence to it.

Sheriff David Clarke began, “And everything that I’ve tried do to in nearly 40 years in law enforcement centered around one principle: the United States Constitution.”

“Here’s what being a conservative means to me: I’m for limited government, lower taxes. I believe that the Constitution protects individuals and not groups. These are individual rights, ladies and gentlemen, which is why I push back against gun control laws that are gonna inhibit my ability to exercise my second amendment based on something some other kook did. These are individual rights. Take his or her rights away for doing that. Don’t mess with mine.

Clarke continued, “OK, this document, here’s why it’s particularly important to me. And this is a sensitive one for me: This document freed my ancestors. You all know the 13th Amendment freed the slaves. The United States Supreme Court did not free the slaves. The President’s declaration did not free the slaves. We changed the Constitution to give the newly freed slaves rights under this document. We went the Constitution route and that’s the way to go.

“As a matter of fact, ladies and gentlemen, the United States Supreme Court upheld that ugly institution of slavery several times. One was Plessy vs. Ferguson where they declared separate but equal constitutional. And also the Dred Scott decision that returned Dred Scott, who had fled to the North, back to his slave owner. The United States Supreme Court did that.

“You see why I do not want these things settled in the court? I want it settled within this, under Article 5, that says you can amend this anytime you want, but here’s the process. And it’s by Article 5. But you see where we’re at today. That’s some heavy lifting. These people don’t want to do it. They just want to run to court and let some unelected judge make Constitutional law.

“And, for you women in the crowd, United States Supreme Court did not give you the right to vote. The Constitution did under the 19th Amendment. We did the hard stuff. That is a very high standard and a process to amend this, and it’s supposed to be. But any time you want to give people rights not enumerated in this document, the way to do it is through Article 5. It’s not to run to the courts.

“And that was the big criticism that I had about the United States Supreme Court approving gay marriage. Forget about the efficacy of it for now. I’m not here to argue or discuss the efficacy of gay marriage. However, if we want to give, this Constitution doesn’t speak to marriage — not even between a man and a woman. It doesn’t speak to it. You do not have a Constitutional right to marry. Nobody does. Not a Constitutional right. Maybe under the states. They set up a system for it and they can quantify it, but not the federal government.

“So I said at the time, on TV, cause I’m not afraid to stand up for what I believe in and to articulate it. I don’t care what kind of blow back I’m gonna get. I do not care.

“I believe in this document. If a court grants you a right, guess what? The courts can take it away. You cannot under this unless you go through the process like prohibition. The courts didn’t override prohibition. They changed it with another amendment. That’s the brilliance of this document, ladies and gentlemen.

“By the way, this is my pocket version. I have about ten of these. Everywhere I go, I have one. In my car. In my home. At my desk. In my travel bag. Cause that’s how much it means to me.

“And I read this document every year. It doesn’t take that long. It was written by simple men. Lawyers screwed it all up. Straight-forward language on all of the amendments, the Bill of Rights. I mean, it’s pretty straight-forward language.”

At this point, though he had been animated throughout his speech, Sheriff David Clarke became especially passionate as he continued:

“I know what the founding fathers were willing to die for. I know what Abraham Lincoln was willing to die for. I know what Nat Turner was willing to die for. I know what Dr. Martin Luther King was willing to die for.”

“I need to know what are you willing to die for? Because I’m not really seeing that passion.

“How many of you have engaged in the last couple of years in a protest, in a general strike, in picketing? A few hands. Not enough. This is the tactics — I’m gonna say we’re going to have to get use to using some of the tactics of the Left. They own the streets right now. The streets are … that’s the battlefield today. The Left defines that and we let them. The Left is in the streets. You know where we are? We’re in think tanks. We’re in TV studios in front of a camera. You know where else we are? We’re behind our computer screens. We’re the keyboard warriors, sending out posts and funny memes on Facebook and Insta—. That’s not an effective tactic to defeat this enemy. You’re going to have to take to the streets.

“Every day you need to bring the resistance. Every day you need to be in the streets in some form. At a school board meeting. That’s going to the streets. Get out of your homes. Get out of your comfort zones. Get to those schools, help those parents and those moms out. And, if worse comes to worst, if that Boston Tea Party moment presents itself, tip the tables over. When Republican poll watchers and Republican canvas workers in Duval County and all that were getting kicked out and I was saying to myself, ‘No, no, no, no. Tip the frickin’ tables over. Tip the tables over, have the ballots fly all over and say, We’re not putting up with this crap!’ That’s a Boston Tea Party moment, ladies and gentlemen.

“No, it is time for you to get off the sidelines. Get out from behind that computer keyboard and take to the streets and help those people, help those parents, help those law enforcement officers beat back the Progressive Left.

“You are going to have to develop the courage cause I already have. You are going to have to develop the courage to look the Progressives straight in the eye and say: I’m coming for you and hell is coming with us.”

The American Freedom Tour is a celebration of faith, family, unalienable rights and God-given American freedoms. In a time when so many in the media and government are tearing down America and its people, the American Freedom Tour celebrates America and what makes us great.

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