Retired Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack claims journalists from Arizona State University damaged his reputation with a “dishonest hit piece.” The August 21, 2023 article, published by Arizona State University’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism (HCIJ) in partnership with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting (AZCIR), falsely depicted Mack and his Constitutional Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) as violent vigilantes, the retired sheriff alleges. Mack, known for successfully challenging the Brady Bill’s background check requirement in the 1990s, disputes the article’s portrayal.
Mack (pictured above) met with the journalists prior to the article to provide them with CSPOA’s standard training on the Constitution, which the group offers to law enforcement officers and others. It thoroughly goes over how CSPOA was formed on the basis of the principles laid out in his famous case, Printz v. United States.
However, Mack told The Arizona Sun Times the eventual article the journalists produced never mentioned anything from his almost two-hour long presentation he gives, which they sat through, which refuted many of their assertions about him and CSPOA. The article barely mentioned the case, which is the reason why Mack is famous.
“In 20 years of law enforcement, I never committed an act of violence towards another human being,” Mack said. “I never shot anyone and I never beat a single person I ever came in contact with. Now ASU and their ‘experts’ accuse me in their dishonest hit piece of vigilantism, insurrections, violence, intimidation, and they threw in a slew of racism fabrications just for good measure. All of these accusations are completely baseless and are the exact opposite of who I am or how I was raised. Furthermore, there is not one iota of evidence to support these ridiculous allegations. ASU and their experts have lied about me and have intentionally damaged my reputation. Sheriffs and supporters have read these lies about me and the CSPOA and have turned their backs on us. I hate to admit that, it is nevertheless, the painful truth.”
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
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