On June 16th, an organization headed by a former Director of the Oath Keepers is scheduled to train law enforcement officers in Meridian, Texas.
Longtime militia-backer Richard Mack’s Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is the headline training organization for a joint event with the Bosque County Sheriff’s Office. The event is billed as “A Summer Community Event & Texas TCOLE Training Course,” sponsored by the Bosque County Farm Bureau and hosted by Bosque County, Texas Sheriff Trace Hendricks.[1]
Bosque County, Texas Sheriff Trace Hendricks
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) has not only given its stamp of approval to the far-right training, but law enforcement officers also receive credit for attending. The Meridian training will be the third time this year that TCOLE has awarded continuing education credits for officers attending these far-right training sessions. Moreover, certifying these training sessions appears to be antithetical to many of TCOLE’s statutory requirements.
The Importance of TCOLE
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) is an agency created by the state legislature in 1965. The Commission is governed by nine members, all appointed by the governor, including three “chief administrators of law enforcement agencies, which include sheriffs, constables, and chiefs of police;” three “persons licensed by the Commission,” including two “peace officers in non-supervisory positions with a law enforcement agency;” and three “private citizens with no direct connection with the field of law enforcement.”[2]
Among other things, TCOLE is charged under state law with establishing “minimum standards relating to competence and reliability, including education, training, physical, mental, and moral standards, for licensing as an officer, county jailer, or public security officer.” State law also requires that “The commission shall recognize, prepare, or administer continuing education programs for officers and county jailers.”[3]
As a part of its “minimum curriculum requirement,” the “commission” must “establish a statewide comprehensive education and training program on civil rights, racial sensitivity, and cultural diversity for persons licensed under this chapter.”[4] Similar requirements for training in “civil rights, racial sensitivity, and cultural diversity” are found in “continuing education” and “intermediate proficiency certificate” sections of Texas law.[5]
CSPOA and TCOLE
In July 2021, Richard Mack’s Posse roadshow came to Texas for two “The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope” events, sponsored by the Houston and Burnet County sheriff’s departments in concert with CSPOA.
In light of promotional fliers stating that “TCOLE credit (6 hours) for peace officers” would accrue to attendees, IREHR reached out to TCOLE to express concern. In a July 6, 2021, email addressed to Gretchen Grigsby, TCOLE’s Director of Government Relations, IREHR wrote,
“We are reaching out to your office concerning upcoming events in Texas announced by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). According to that organization, this event is being co-hosted with two Texas county sheriff’s departments…We are concerned about TCOLE’s possible involvement in this event for several reasons.”
Among other things, IREHR described,
“CSPOA is currently co-sponsoring a nationwide tour with an antisemitic QAnon conspiracist. Robert David Steele is a prolific purveyor of antisemitism who…calls for jailing all Jews not sufficiently ‘loyal to the Republic;’…
[P]romotional materials indicate that Michael Peroutka is scheduled to speak at the event you are co-sponsoring. Peroutka was a national board member of the white nationalist secessionist group, the League of the South, a group that seeks a whites-only ethnostate in the U.S. south, promotes vicious antisemitism, and has forged alliances with neo-Nazis…Peroutka currently leads the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC). This group promotes anti-Muslim bigotry and state nullification. It has distributed material stating that “We see no reason why men should not discriminate on grounds of religion, race, or nationality if they wish.”…Lastly, we have concerns over the CSPOA, headed by longtime militia leader Richard Mack. The group promotes the long-discredited idea derived from the violently racist and antisemitic Posse Comitatus that sheriffs can usurp the judicial branch’s role in interpreting the Constitution and unilaterally override federal, state, and local laws.”
IREHR closed by stating, “We would like to offer you an opportunity to comment and clarify the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement’s involvement in supporting the event. This is a serious matter. We hope that you will give it the attention it deserves.”[6]
IREHR could have added that Mack has spewed New World Order conspiracism and, in the style of racism deniers, offensively declared that “the Reverend Jesse Jackson types and the NAACP have done more to enslave Afro-Americans than all the southern plantation owners put together.” Furthermore, Mack has rejected the idea of the separation of church and state, a cornerstone of protecting civil rights, and stated, “People get all upset when they hear about militias, but what’s wrong with it? I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to call out my posse against the federal government if it gets out of hand.”
IREHR could have added that another CSPOA trainer, far-right “constitutionalist” KrisAnne Hall, promotes the bogus idea that the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments to the constitutional are unconstitutional, a “legal” framework compatible with white nationalism and which would overthrow the legal basis of federal civil rights in the United States.
TCOLE Responds to IREHR, Doubles Down on CSPOA Training
On the same day that IREHR reached out to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, agency Director of Government Relations Gretchen Grigsby responded:
“To be clear, eligibility for credit from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) is not an indication of the Commission’s endorsement or involvement. TCOLE places a great deal of trust in, and responsibility on, our contracted training providers, and a vast majority of the time they do a fantastic job of ensuring quality training for law enforcement in Texas.
However, when we hear of concerns from the public about specific courses, we have an obligation to look into them. As such, TCOLE will be sending a staff member to the America’s Last Hope events scheduled in Burnet and Houston Counties to determine whether the course carries sufficient value to law enforcement to be eligible for credit toward law enforcement attendees’ continuing education requirements.”[7]
TCOLE followed through, sending field agents to observe the CSPOA training. The result of their “investigation,” however, was disturbing. On August 3, Government Relations Director Grigsby responded to IREHR:
“Good afternoon, TCOLE did have Field Service Agents attend both the Burnet County and Houston County events. Both Field Service Agents reported no discussion or delivered material that would be reason to deny continuing education credit to any licensed attendees.”[8]
Despite having troubling facts about Richard Mack and CSPOA in their hands and being a quick internet search away from many more, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement continued to endorse this far-right organization training their officers.
Ultimately, it is implausible for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to authorize CSPOA trainings for its officers and live up to its statutory requirement to educate Texas law officers on “civil rights, racial sensitivity, and cultural diversity.” Moreover, it is equally implausible that TCOLE can back such “trainings” and have anything of value to say about civil rights.
It is also notable that the far-right rot in Texas law enforcement extends to the top. In late October, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also spoke at a meeting hosted by Richard Mack’s CSPOA in Mesquite, Texas.[9] The federal government’s lack of action on this matter is a dereliction of its duties to uphold civil rights in the United States.
[1] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Upcoming Events. https://cspoa.org/events-members/. Accessed June 9, 2022.
[2] Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. TCOLE History. https://www.tcole.texas.gov/content/tcole-history. Accessed June 10, 2022.
[3] Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. TCOLE History. https://www.tcole.texas.gov/content/tcole-history. Accessed June 10, 2022.
[4] Texas Occupations Code. Chapter 10. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/OC/htm/OC.1701.htm
[5] Texas Occupations Code. Chapter 10. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/OC/htm/OC.1701.htm
[6] Email from Devin Burghart, Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, to TCOLE Director of Government Relations Gretchen Grisby. July 6, 2021
[7] Email from TCOLE Director of Government Relations Gretchen Grisby to Devin Burghart, Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. July 6, 2021.
[8] Email from TCOLE Director of Government Relations Gretchen Grisby to Devin Burghart, Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 3, 2021.
[9] Pishko, Jessica. The Law According to Ken Paxton Or, this is what a white supremacist take-over looks like. November 2, 2021. https://sheriffs.substack.com/p/the-law-according-to-ken-paxton-or?s=r
