You Won’t Believe This Conservative Sheriff’s Dare
The official Facebook page of the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado has been posting inappropriate, politically charged messages. One status update called those who disagree politically with the openly conservative sheriff, Shayne Heap, ‘extremists’ and ‘haters’ and to meet the sheriff in the street for a ‘six shooter showdown.’
The page was originally founded in October 2011 and was to be used for the purposes of communication with a community of nearly 24,000 individuals to help citizens stay apprised of relevant local information including arrests and harsh weather warnings. However over the course of two years the page morphed from a public information service to an Internet soapbox with Sheriff Heap using the page as a public forum to speak out about his views on God, the second amendment, and what he categorizes as ‘extremist liberals.’
A post on Jan. 19 2013 signed by Sheriff Heap declared the sheriff’s love of the second amendment, and his intention to protect ‘the constitutional rights’ of ‘all people in Elbert County.’ The sheriff went on to describe the citizens he serves as, ‘law abiding’ and ‘God fearing.’ He closed his cordial message declaring, “I will utilize any and all legal means available to stop the federal government from encroaching on any of our constitutional rights as Americans. Our right to keep and bear arms is absolute!”
This message sparked a firestorm of criticism towards Sheriff Heap, both in public and private, to which the sheriff’s office answered officially nearly a year later on Dec. 7 2013 in the format of an anti-government, anti-liberal rant that has been described by citizens as bizarre, immature, hostile, aggressive, and intimidating:
It is with both great disappointment and astonishment in our fellow man that we find it necessary to share the following facts. As many of you know, in Elbert County the world of extreme liberal politics is alive and well. Our conservative values, morals and our very way of life has settled in the crosshairs of a small group of extreme liberals. On both a county and a state level we have observed this small group and their outlandish actions and constant attacks on those that seek to maintain conservative values and more importantly our God given rights. When these unreasonable extreme far left individuals, referred to by many as “the haters”, believe in something it is the same as stating unequivocally that they despise anything and anyone that disagrees with them. Regardless of how hard county employees work, they could never do enough to satisfy the haters. Regardless of the hard working, God fearing people that do more with less, each and every day, the haters always seem to find something unacceptable with the plan. It is important to differentiate the plan from the outcome as the County as a whole has improved significantly each and every year. They know the way but cant drive the car so they are relegated to being the critics of all things great and small.
As far as they (the haters) are concerned, if you’re pro-life, then you must hate women. If you’re a fiscal conservative, then you must hate seniors because you want to get rid of their social security. If you believe in traditional marriage, then you’re a homophobe. If you stand for the citizens you serve and refuse to allow their 2nd Amendment rights to be trampled your a marked man and they will tell lies and create controversy in an attempt to slow your progress. Our local group of haters hide in the shadows, anonymously making hateful and disparaging remarks without even the courage to sign their own names. They want to make it so miserable to fight the good fight, they are willing to use misdirection and deceit to accomplish their political agenda.
Since the very public stance that the Sheriff took regarding our 2nd Amendment rights he has been attacked from the extreme left because of his position on that issue and his positions on many other conservative matters. We have seen that the haters can’t and won’t directly address these issues so they attack people personally. These individuals wouldn’t consider stepping out in the street and committing to the “six shooter showdown” that the sheriff welcomes when it comes to this fight for our constitutional rights and our very way of life. Instead they hide behind fake names, cowardly threats and wait to see if the Sheriff, his staff or anyone in a position of leadership in the County will do anything they disapprove of. This group of antigun zealots are making their “battle” on the basis of the 2014 budget where the Sheriff has implemented multiple cost savings and reallocation programs to make the county a safe place and do it with limited funds. They have chosen the Law Enforcement Assistance Fund which is 1/2 of 1% of the overall county budget. They want to dictate not only what laws are enforced but what areas of the county we enforce them. The “haters” have lost the political and intellectual debate with the Sheriff and now all that is left to do is throw rocks. For those of you that would like additional information on this or ANYTHING else associated with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office, you can contact us here on FaceBook, at www.elbertcountysheriff.co
m, at 303-621-2027 (phone tree at the Office), or stop by (751 Ute Avenue, Kiowa) we would love to talk to those we take such honor in serving.
The message speaks for itself and despite many citizens of Elbert County calling for the post to be removed it has proudly stood pat and is not the only instance of inappropriate political speech. The official Elbert County Sheriff’s Office website contains direct links to Sheriff Heap’s anti-governmental video rants, posted on YouTube under the user name ‘ecso2027.’ ECSO stands for ‘Elbert County Sheriff’s Office.’ In these videos, none of which have anything to do with local law enforcement, Sheriff Heap decries President Barack Obama, who he calls ‘Mr. Obama’, as ‘grandstanding’ and claimed ‘we are frustrated with political hypocrisies.’ Moments later Sheriff Heap praises President Obama’s drone strike foreign policy. This particular video has received over 300,000 views. Should not a local sheriff be focused on keeping inmates secure in county jail facilities, and leave national foreign policy to officials in those positions? That isn’t ‘grandstanding’? You can watch the full video for yourself for all details, and there are others where Sheriff Heap declares his support of the death penalty, and ridicules those who are against putting criminals to death.
The office of sheriff exists to protect citizens. Heap’s accusations and slander towards those who disagree with him politically as ‘haters’ and ‘extremists’ is graceless and not befitting of a peace keeper. It would seem Sheriff Heap uses labels to describe others in the actual manner of which he behaves. Which is more extreme? Private citizens speaking out against the policies of their elected officials, or an elected member of law enforcement using their perch as a platform to launch political attacks? Keep in mind Sheriff Heap’s behavior in this matter is entirely the opposite of what he promised while running for election in 2010. During an interview with Examiner.com Heap declared:
I have spent the last 8 yrs of my career serving this county as a public servant, not a politician.
This story has only come to light after I was personally contacted by a concerned citizen of Elbert County who told me they felt intimidated and worried what would happen if they were to encounter the sheriff or his deputies and the citizen’s political affiliations were known. They have pro-leftist bumper stickers, you see. Does the sheriff only serve individuals who believe in God? What about those in favor of woman’s rights, and the right to have an abortion? The tirade also implies the official stance of the sheriff’s office is to be in opposition of full civil rights for LGBT citizens. Does the sheriff’s office treat LGBT citizens differently than those who identify as straight? The official Facebook page mentions God over a dozen times. What if a citizen in Sheriff Heap’s jurisdiction is in favor of gun regulation, or an outright gun ban? Would the sheriff treat that individual, who the sheriff’s office publicly considers a ‘hater’ and an ‘extremist’, equally as compared to those in favor of not altering the second amendment?
Sheriff Shayne Heap was elected in 2010 to protect all citizens of Elbert County and not just those who agree with the him politically, and has recently kicked off his re-election campaign for 2014. Considering the sheriff’s office’s very public stances and harsh rhetoric, it is not unreasonable to ask if Sheriff Heap is able to separate his private views from his sworn public duties. Sheriff Heap was also under investigation in 2012 for personally receiving $12,000 in excessive overtime payments. Small government, indeed.
Lou Colagiovanni is the editor of ruthless-politics.com, National Crime Reporter for Examiner.com, and editor of the political discussion community,”We survived Bush. You will survive Obama.” You may contact Lou at [email protected].