Clarke buries facts about Courthouse shooting

Sheriff benefited politically from cover up

 You wouldn’t think someone with a job as important as the Sheriff of Milwaukee County would risk covering up details in a case to benefit himself and protect another politician - but that’s just what Sheriff David Clarke did.

Shortly after then-Governor Scott McCallum appointed Clarke to his post, there was a fatal shooting in a Judge Jacqueline Schellinger’s courtroom. Laron Ball had just been convicted on a murder charge but had not yet been sentenced. At that point, he was a man with little to lose.

In a move that shocked everyone in the courtroom, Ball lurched over a table in an attempt to wrestle a gun away from one of Clarke’s deputies. Ball managed to get his hand on the gun and as he struggled for control of it, shots were fired. Fortunately, the deputy was able to keep a hand on the gun at all times which meant Ball never had enough control of the gun to aim it and hurt even more people.

During the struggle, a quick-thinking Milwaukee police officer drew his gun and fired. Ball was shot and killed as a horrified judge and jury looked on.

Clarke swaggered on to the scene and declared to the cameras that the inmate was dead and that one of the deputies was shot but was being taken to the hospital. Clarke then puffed out his chest and used the opportunity to showcase his now-characteristic blame tactic by saying some people still don’t get that there’s a new Sheriff in town and things will now be done differently. Someone would pay for this Clarke said.

This signaled a change in Milwaukee County. When an inmate escaped under the watch of former Sheriff Lev Baldwin, he took responsibility. Baldwin understood the chain of command, and like the captain of a ship, he blamed no one but himself, promised to fix the problem, and fixed it. Clarke’s tactics were like a captain also, but more like Captain Blye.

Somebody did pay. Clarke pinned responsibility on long time Deputy Pete Misko who had also applied to Governor McCallum for the appointment to replace retired Sheriff Lev Baldwin. Misko had already announced he was running for Sheriff prior to the Clarke appointment. He had been a Milwaukee County Democratic Party officer and Republican Governor Scott McCallum just couldn’t stomach appointing a democrat to the post. Clarke, a conservative who also applied to the post, said he would run for the position as a democrat, but had no democratic credentials and as McCallum saw it, no democratic baggage. McCallum chose Clarke.

Clearly this put Misko in an awkward position. He had to work for the man he hoped to beat in the upcoming Sheriff’s race.

How did the courtroom shooting happen? How could an inmate ever be in a position to wrestle with a deputy for his gun in the first place? That’s the rub.

Ball was already a high-risk inmate. He was planning an escape. The Sheriff knew it. The Deputies knew it. The Judge knew it.

It wasn’t something that should have ever happened.

A high-risk inmate like this should have been put in restraints sufficient to keep this type of thing from happening. Typically, an inmate like Laron Ball would have been rigged up with a special security belt with leg and hand restraints that limit mobility and delivers a shock if the inmate acts up. Ball wasn’t wearing the stun belt he was supposed to have had on.

Deputies didn’t put it on because it would have taken more time and sources tell me Schellinger didn’t want to be late for lunch. It was her courtroom and when she made the order, deputies didn’t have a choice but to comply.

Clarke knew all of this and he said nothing. So why?

Both Clarke and Schellinger have conservative connections and their campaign funding both flowed through Republican channels. If Clarke would have made Schellinger look bad he would have turned off the money flow for himself and facing what promised to be a tough primary election, Clarke couldn’t afford to give up that money.

Rather than make public Schellinger’s error and invite additional press scrutiny, he buried the story. Clarke knew the main reasons for the courtroom incident but he chose to keep them to himself. By withholding key facts, Clarke could blame his main rival in the upcoming Sheriff’s race and nearly assure himself a victory.

I spoke with Schellinger the day of the shooting. She was obviously shaken but I was amazed at how well composed she was. For having just seen Laron Ball shot dead in her courtroom, I was impressed with her composure. Today she continues on a protracted and unexplained sick leave. Tragically, this otherwise talented Judge will soon resign her post on the circuit court.

In the mean time, David Clarke got what he wanted – to be elected the Milwaukee County Sheriff. Now building on that, it is expected that Clarke will join the crowded field of candidates running for Mayor. Rather than deal with Clarke’s heavy-handed management style, Misko has retired.

One just has to wonder, how many people will Clarke walk over in his bid to be Mayor?