Daniel Bice

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Best not to mess with Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., especially on game day for his beloved Dallas Cowboys.

That's the message that Dan Black, a 24-year-old Riverwest resident, found out over the weekend.

Black filed a complaint with the county on Tuesday alleging that he was harassed by Clarke. Black claimed he was confronted, interviewed and then escorted out of Mitchell International Airport by a group of deputies after a brief exchange with Clarke on a flight from Dallas on Sunday.

"It was stunning," said Black, who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in film studies. "I was blown away."

The unusually chatty Clarke hasn't responded to the complaint. Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun said late Tuesday that her office has not yet received a lawsuit or a formal legal complaint related to this matter. County Board officials referred questions to Daun.

It's not clear as to who would handle such a complaint, though Black said he is looking to hire an attorney.

In the one-page complaint, Black says he saw Clarke — decked out in a Cowboys baseball hat and shirt — on the American Airlines flight at noon Sunday but wasn't sure it was the sheriff because he wasn't wearing his signature Stetson. Clarke was flying first class, while Black had a seat in the back of the plane.

"As I passed him," Black wrote. "I asked if he was Sheriff Clarke, and he responded in the affirmative. I shook my head as I was moving on to my seat near the back of the plane. From behind, he asked if I had a problem. I shook my head 'no' again and continued to my seat."

Black, who first told his story on the Riverwest Neighborhood's Facebook page, thought that was the end of that. The freelance videographer said he was returning to Milwaukee from a wedding in Dallas.

But when he got off the plane, Black said, he was met by a group of six uniformed deputies and two dogs, all of whom were accompanied by the sheriff. Black said he was then escorted to the waiting area and questioned by two of the deputies, who said Clarke had told them that Black had made "some remarks" to the sheriff on the plane.

Black said he burst out laughing when he saw his "welcoming party" because he knew what was happening. In the interview, he said he was asked who he was, why he was traveling to Dallas and what he thought of Clarke — a question he said he refused to answer.

Not that his political views are a secret. Describing himself as "left leaning," Black said he was a supporter of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, during the presidential campaign. Clarke was a frequent surrogate for President-elect Donald Trump.

But Black said his criticism of the airport incident, which occurred an hour before the Packers-Cowboys playoff game, is not based on politics.

"I was walked through the terminal, down through baggage claim, and all the way to my friend’s car by the officers," Black wrote in his complaint. "As my friend drove me out of the arrival area of the airport, I saw Sheriff Clarke surrounded by officers looking up the road where I had come from. He apparently needed to see that I was leaving the airport."

Black posted on Facebook a short video of him leaving the airport with an official wearing a yellow reflective vest with the word "sheriff" on it. His Facebook post was shared more than 200 times and received dozens of comments before an administrator shut down any additional remarks. Most were critical of Clarke and supportive of Black.

Interestingly, Black said the two deputies who interviewed him agreed that the stop was "ridiculous" and that one even encouraged him to go to the media with his complaint. He said he did not write down the names of the deputies.

"My detention and this interrogation was entirely unwarranted," Black wrote in his complaint. "Although the event did frighten me, I will not be intimidated into letting this egregious act go unreported."

Facebook video: "Getting escorted out of the airport"

A deputy at Mitchell Airport referred questions to Clarke spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin, who did not respond to messages. The sheriff was spotted Saturday walking around the airport in Cowboys gear. Clarke's uncle, Franklin Clarke, was a wide receiver for Dallas in the 1960s.

The sheriff is a huge Cowboys fan, having predicted on a National Rifle Association video show last week that Dallas would defeat Green Bay on Sunday. The Packers came out on top, 34-31, on a last-second field goal by kicker Mason Crosby.

NRA News tweeted out Clarke's prediction, saying, "America's Sheriff is supporting America's Team." That prompted Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele to respond on Twitter: "The Cowboys are America's Team about as much as @SheriffClarke is Milwaukee's sheriff."

The Sunday incident wasn't Clarke's first on a local flight.

Last fall, Clarke had a Milwaukee man arrested and charged with intoxication and disruptive behavior after he berated the sheriff and others on a two-hour flight from Milwaukee to Charlotte, N.C. Preston Bluntson, 36, has a hearing on the misdemeanor charge in Mecklenburg County, N.C., court next month.

In the interview, Black said he was aware of the fracas on that flight with Clarke, so he said he kept his mouth shut after his initial exchange with Clarke.

What Black didn't know was that Clarke is such a big Cowboys fan. Black grew up in Illinois and has rooted for the Chicago Bears in the past.

But that might be changing.

"Am I a Packers fan?" Black said Tuesday. "I am now."

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