Daniel Bice

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Riverwest man filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., several unnamed deputies and Milwaukee County after he says he was detained, interviewed and escorted out of Mitchell International Airport by a half-dozen deputies after a brief run-in with the sheriff on a plane.

Dan Black, 24, alleges in the suit that he was the victim of an unlawful stop and arrest at the airport on Jan. 15. The suit asks for unspecified damages for violations of Black's constitutional rights to equal protection and freedom from unreasonable searches and for "emotional distress and other compensatory damages."

"This was a gross and arbitrary abuse of power," said Black's attorney, William Sulton.

Clarke did not immediately respond to the suit. He often posts his thoughts on various issues on the Facebook page for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office.

ONGOING COVERAGE: Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.

In the lawsuit, Black says he saw Clarke — decked out in Dallas Cowboys attire — on the American Airlines flight from Dallas to Milwaukee on Jan. 15. But, according to the suit, Black wasn't sure it was the sheriff because he wasn't wearing his signature Stetson, so Black asked Clarke if he was the sheriff.

Clarke indicated that he was the sheriff, the suit says, and then Clarke asked Black if he had a problem. Black says in the suit that he responded by saying he did not.

When he got off the plane, Black says he was met by a group of six uniformed deputies along with the sheriff. Black asserts that he was then arrested and escorted to a waiting area for a 15-minute interview that included questions about his political beliefs. Afterward, he was escorted from the airport by two deputies.

"A reasonable Milwaukee County sheriff would not have ordered his deputy sheriffs to stop, arrest and interrogate a citizen for shaking his head," the lawsuit says.

After Black went public with his formal complaint, Clarke responded with a statement suggesting anyone, including Black, who harasses him on an airplane might get "knocked out." He also posted a meme with a picture of Black that said, "Cheer up, Snowflake... If Sheriff Clarke were to really harass you, you wouldn't be around to whine about it."

County auditors have launched an investigation into Black's complaint, but Clarke has said neither he nor his deputies will cooperate with that probe, which he called a "fake investigation."

"It is clear that only the courts can rein in Sheriff Clarke," Sulton said.

The suit says the sheriff singled out Black because of his political opinions. Black is a liberal who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president last year, while Clarke was a frequent surrogate for President Donald Trump. The suit says Clarke's actions were "irrational and unrelated to any legitimate government purpose."

By taunting Black, Clarke has misrepresented what happened on the Dallas flight, the suit says, and his comments on social media were intended to "incite violent verbal assaults against Black, which has happened."

Black is suing the six deputies, arguing that they should have known that Clarke's order to arrest and interrogate Black was "unlawful."

As for Milwaukee County, the suit says Clarke diverted resources that could have been used on other issues, such as terrorism. County officials, the suit continues, also lack "an effective mechanism for disciplining Sheriff Clarke and his deputies for violating citizens' civil and constitutional rights."

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.