A sheriff in Indiana announced his decision to leave the Democratic Party, citing the continued “rioting” in several American cities and lack of police support from party leaders.
“I’m shocked at watching things in Portland and Seattle, where night after night they’re out rioting. They’re not protesting, they’re rioting,” Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding told WEVV Evansville. “They’re putting police officers’ lives in danger.”
Wedding made these comments on September 3, when he formally announced his switch to the Republican Party in front of a crowd gathered outside of White Stallion Energy in Evansville.
The sheriff, who has worked at the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) since 1981, has been elected twice as a Democrat. He first became sheriff in 2014, and his final term ends in 2022.
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Wedding has considered making the switch for a while now, as he’s always been a “conservative Democrat,” and he ran on the blue ticket to follow a long history of Democratic sheriffs, WEVV reported. The current political climate, including protests over police brutality and calls to defund or even abolish police departments, is what spurred the sheriff to become a Republican.
Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends Wednesday, Wedding said it’s been difficult to watch the ongoing protests as a law enforcement leader.
“I can’t imagine 101 days of rioting, and it’s condoned by the Democratic leadership. It’s unbelievable that they can do that to our law enforcement profession,” Wedding said. “As a sheriff, I could not imagine putting my deputies on the front lines of these riots night after night with no relief in sight.”
Wedding told Fox News that the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket “scares” him. The sheriff cited what he referred to as Harris’ support for catch-and-release programs. “For our vice president of the country to raise money to release criminals from jails, that’s shocking in and of itself,” Wedding said.
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Harris tweeted June 1 about the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), an organization that assists those who cannot afford to pay the full amount in cash for bail. Americans poured money into the MFF following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 while in Minneapolis police custody, as a way to help those who got arrested while protesting Floyd’s death.
According to a fact check by The Washington Post, few people involved in the protests needed help from the MFF to be released from jail. The majority of those arrested—92 percent—did not have to pay bail, and the amounts were nominal for those who did.
Wedding also criticized Democratic prosecutors, such as Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, for implementing catch-and-release programs.
“The Democratic prosecutors, they have these catch-and-release programs, and police are out there battling these rioters each and every night. They arrest them only to find them released right away by the prosecutor,” he said.
While Wedding did not explicitly tell Fox that he would vote for President Donald Trump in November, he did reveal he had participated in national conference calls with Trump and was impressed with the “support” the president has pledged to law enforcement.
“I’ve seen it in action, because [Trump’s] offered these cities that are under siege federal aid, and they’re not smart enough to take that aid to try to end the siege on their cities,” Wedding said.
If he were in charge of one these cities, Wedding said, he would be “rushing that federal aid to help us end the violence.”
During his announcement last week, Wedding also accused Democrats of wanting to burn the American flag and for failing to acknowledge God.
“Democrats want to burn that thing every day,” Wedding said. “I can’t tolerate that. Burning our flag? The symbol of our country, the greatest country in the world?”
But Wedding stressed both during the announcement and on Fox & Friends that Evansville, where the VCSO is located, is fortunate to have “solid leadership across the aisle.”
“I’ve worked with local Democrats and Republicans for many, many years. We have great community leaders, both business and faith-based, and we work closely with law enforcement to keep our community safe,” Wedding said Wednesday.
The sheriff told reporters after his announcement last week that he would continue supporting some of the local Democratic officials and candidates whom he has endorsed in the past.
“We have some strong Democrats in Evansville and Vanderburgh County. I’ve supported them in the past and won’t turn my back on them in the future,” Wedding said. “There’s certain ones that have earned my trust and respect, and I won’t desert them because I’ve turned Republican. We do have some really good Democrat leaders in Vanderburgh County.”
Newsweek contacted the VCSO for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
The Vanderburgh Democratic Party released a statement after Wedding’s announcement, expressing its disappointment in both his decision and his reasoning.
“We are aware that there are many conversations regarding police reform on a national level,” the statement says. “However, Sheriff Wedding knows that the Democratic majorities on the county commissioners and City Council have been strongly and consistently supportive of local law enforcement.”
