When the Sheriff of Bristol County Massachusetts announced in January of 2017 that he would volunteer his county jail inmates to help construct the wall on the Southern Border, an ad hoc committee of citizens formed Bristol County for Correctional Justice (BCCJ) to monitor the sheriff and to call him to account for his questionable activities.
Their research found that not only does he have the highest suicide rate in any of the state’s county jails, denies proper medical care to those in his jails, and that in spite of claiming his job is tough because of the drug problems in his county he takes minimal steps n his jails to deal with it, and he desires to be more of a Western sheriff than doing his actual job as a Massachusetts sheriff, but he has an obsession with getting Trump’s attention to the point he spends county money to get to the White House to be seen with him at every opportunity.
Worse, while being the sheriff of a county whose two biggest cities have had a large immigrant population since the days of whaling and manufacturing, he uses the threat of immigrants to scare the smaller county towns into thinking his anti-immigrant, white supremacist views are what is keeping them safe.
He actually uses the good citizens of the cities to create an us/them threat to the small rural towns around them, and since these two cities are only now coming out of their post manufacturing depression, most of those people do not go to them, and assume the sheriff is not lying to them.
He tells them that the county needs his cartoonish, Yosemite Sam approaches to his job because it is a dangerous place that needs his iron fist, while organizations that rate counties on their livability give it high ratings for safety.
While throwing out bullet points to support his immigrants equal crime tropes, he consistently refuses to provide statistics and studies to support his claims.
Those who defend him, including the local media, insist that his involvement with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-immigrant organization, his attendance and talks at white supremacist conferences, and his associations with the leaders of white nationalist and supremacy groups is not proof that he is, himself, a white supremacist, his actions and statements show otherwise.
If the saying, “Show me your friends and I will tell you what type of person you are” is true, he is a white supremacist.
And like a loyal member of a bad group, the sheriff protects his own when, in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he said of Steven Miller recently,
“This is one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met. I can assure you, I know Steve Miller, and Steve Miller is not a racist.”
How does he know him unless by association?
For most of its existence, it appeared BCCJ was being ignored when it asked the state for oversight and audits, and presented its findings to people at the State House, but it is becoming clear that others are now paying attention to what goes on behind the scenes and that BCCJ may have been a voice crying in the wilderness.
Although he either ignores Freedom of Information requests or finds excuses for long delays in delivering, when he does deliver, he only produces the minimum of what was asked for by the citizen of his county, This did not work when the ACLU faced the same stall, but then responded by hiring a law firm to pursue their request.
Like BCCJ before them, the ACLU of Massachusetts requested financial records, audit results, social media records, policies, and correspondence.
The sheriff, with his long list of already existing law suits, recognized the need to deliver, and the record shows clearly that he has been attempting to get something from Trump and that he is a white supremacist with a bigotry toward immigrants.
Among what has been found is that Sheriff Hodgson has sent hundreds of emails to Steven Miller since Trump took office. He praises him for his television appearances and press conferences, and keeps him informed about what is going on in Bristol County and the state at large, calling out one particular state legislator who has been endeavoring to keep the sheriff from spending state tax money on projects out of state that do not benefit local communities whose tax money it is, but certainly gets Trump’ attention like the wall building stunt.
Two examples would be,
“Stephen, I couldn’t have been more proud of you as I watched you dress down the CNN reporter and school him on immigration law and the origin and meaning behind the Statue of Liberty. I have to believe President Trump must be equally as proud you stood squarely in the face of yet another attempt, undermine the President’s agenda to protect the interests of all Americans and our legal residents. Congratulations on your continued good work for the President and our nation. Many are singing your praises here on local radio and around the water coolers.”
And,
“Stephen, Excellent article highlighting your unique talents, intellect, and political savvy. The President is truly fortunate to have someone who is in sync with his mindset and able to drive his agenda. Congratulations!”
Hodgson wants any state legislator who supports Sanctuary Cities and Safe Communities arrested, and, even though churches are historically safe places that often help the needy and the outcast, the sheriff even reported his church to Miller for being helpful to immigrants.
Having seen leaflets in several languages on a table at the back of his church where various pamphlets on various topics are displayed informing immigrants of their rights when dealing with law enforcement he emailed Miller,
“Stephen, I thought you might like to see samples of cards I discovered in a holder at the back of St Julie’s Church in Dartmouth, MA while attending mass last Sunday.”
He justified this by claiming it was his duty to inform the White House of “efforts to try to help people avoid abiding by the law.”
As if all immigrants who face potential profiling are law breakers.
Recently as his own emails have shown that Miller has been a white nationalist for a long time, now there are these emails from the sheriff showing Hodgson sees a kindred spirit in him.
And, now the sheriff, who sent most of his emails on the taxpayers’ dime; who goes to the White house on the county’s time and taxpayer dime to get seen by and with the president; who attends and speaks at anti-immigrant and white supremacist conferences and events while praising the White House’s in-house white nationalist; who has the highest death, suicide, and recidivism rates in the state; who neglects to take any steps to help his inmates with mental illness; who makes money off of his inmates, who lies about the residents of the county’s two cities to scare the people in the towns around them; and reports his church to the White House because it has information about how immigrants should interact with law enforcement while the sheriff does not specify whether it is for undocumented or all immigrants, has gotten his pay off.
He is the Honorary Chair of the Trump Reelection Committee in the state of Massachusetts.
That speaks volumes, and should, to the people of Bristol County in a state with a reputation for respecting the rights and humanity of those who live here.
Again, as the state law proclaims,
All persons within the commonwealth, regardless of sex, race, color, creed or national origin, shall have the same rights enjoyed by white male citizens, to make and enforce contracts, to inherit, purchase, to lease, sell, hold and convey real and personal property, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property.
https://www.amazon.com/WHO-SHERIFF-THOMAS-HODGSON-QUIGLEY-ebook/dp/B07MC32XMS/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=joe+quigley&qid=1575762609&sr=8-2