Well, if you had any doubts about which side of the political spectrum Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney represents you can put those doubts to rest. This July 22 Fortney will host the extreme right-wing Pinal County, Ariz., sheriff Mark Lamb at a $250-a-plate fundraising extravaganza up in Arlington. Lamb, who supports Fortney, is a darling of right-wing extremists.
An election denying, MAGA Trumpist, Lamb is often pictured in the background in photos of the ex-president. He considers himself to be a “constitutional sheriff,” a growing group of rogue sheriffs who think that the U.S. Constitution confers on local sheriffs the role of ultimate “deciders” in their jurisdictions.True, that anyone in law enforcement takes an oath to defend our founding document, but I haven’ found any references to sheriffs. The constitutional sheriffs believe that they have the right to ignore laws that they don’t agree with just as Fortney has done when it comes to enforcing gun laws, covid measures and other laws that he personally doesn’t like.
This “constitutional sheriffs” group has even flirted with the idea that they have a responsibility to have a say with regard to election results when candidates they support don’t win the vote.
We need balanced professional law enforcement in Snohomish County, not partisan hacks who are just trying to push their own political agenda. The citizens of Snohomish County deserve law enforcement that is non-partisan and administers the law without bias or allegiance to any particular political party or doctrine. Clearly, that is not Adam Fortney.
Howard Lazzarini
Everett
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