Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of Hillsborough, Florida, County Sheriff Chad Chronister as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. No one is quite sure how Sheriff Chronister popped on the radar. A lot of Florida alumni are showing up in Trump 2.0, and, of course, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi started her political career as the prosecutor in Hillsborough County.
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This is the announcement.
In the cold light of the “morning after,” many things are surfacing that indicate Sheriff Chronister, no matter his competence as a law enforcement officer, may not be in sync with President Trump’s vision for the federal government.
Pride Month Booster
“The Most Democratic of Republicans”
He believes Republicans are too far right.
When I ask him about all this , Chronister says he is “the most Democratic of Republicans,” a “hybrid of both parties,” fiscally conservative, socially Democrat. Actually, he was a Democrat until people convinced him you should have the same party affiliation as the sheriff for whom you work. He doesn’t think of the office as partisan anyway.
Democrat Donor
Eight Reasons To Think Twice About Voting For Chad Chronister For Sheriff
1). Chronister is a flip-flopping opportunist. The former Democrat is running again as a Republican, but his background of support shows he still is a Democrat at heart. Chronister has given tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats including $15,000 to Barack Obama for President, and thousands to such assorted partisan Democrats including: Congressman Charlie Crist, Mayor Jane Castor, and Congresswoman Kathy Castor. Chronister has also contributed at least $5,000 to the Democrat National Committee. In short, for someone with an “R” after his name, he looks curiously like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
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Support of DEI
Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office recruitment effort focuses on diversity
Maj. Alan Hill, who heads HCSO’s District II patrol division, addressed the growing need for more dedicated men and women to join the agency at a Seffner Chamber of Commerce luncheon earlier this year, noting that the agency wants to hire more minorities, women and people from Hillsborough County.
“We have a lot of vacancies now,” Hill said. “Most all of them are due to retirement because the Sheriff’s Office grew substantially back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. It grew by leaps and bounds and those individuals are starting to hit their retirement age.”
Now, the void left by retirees is being filed by a younger, increasingly more diverse crowd of African-Americans, Hispanics, women and military veterans according to Lozada. Currently, 17 percent of all HCSO employees are African-American, another 17 percent are Hispanic, 2 percent are Asian and 34 percent are female.
Last year, HCSO held its first Women in Law Enforcement Job Fair to encourage women to join the male-dominated Sheriff’s Office. More than 250 women attended the event.
“Law enforcement is an occupation that females excel in,” Hill said. “I know it firsthand. When I started in this business I was trained by one.”
Supports Red Flag Gun Confiscation
How Florida has confiscated thousands of guns using the ‘red flag’ law
The law has strong backing from three local sheriffs, notably all Republican.
Chronister believes it has already kept something terrible from happening.
“You can never measure what you prevented,” he said. “Is it working? It absolutely is.”
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Punished Employees for No COVID Vaccine
Arrested Pastor for Holding Service During Lockdown
Perhaps the cherry on top of this mass of flaming progressivism is his ordering the arrest of a pastor for holding services during COVID’s lockdown phase (What the Holy Heck? A Florida Pastor is Arrested for Holding Services, but He Claimed His Machines Shoot Viruses – RedState).
The “full story” is that Democrat State Attorney Andrew Warren (Warren is a Soros-funded prosecutor who was removed from office by Rick DeSantis) issued the arrest warrant for holding services. Allegedly, he warned the pastor several times before authorizing his arrest. Governor DeSantis stepped in and shut down the order forbidding church services.
Refused to Stop BLM Rioters
This refusal extended to the attack on the Hillsborough County Jail.
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At the height of the Black Lives Matter riots, anarchists assembled at the Hillsborough County Jail on Orient Road and began to rip down the gate at the jail’s Sally Port where prisoners are brought into the facility. Jail deputies were ordered to stand-down as they watched rioters destroy public property. None of the anarchists were arrested. One detention deputy at the jail told me, “It was ridiculous that we were not allowed to do anything, and no one was arrested, and it has deeply affected morale.”
Soft on Immigration
Hillsborough County Sheriff releases message ahead of Florida’s newest immigration law | WFLA
A strong immigration law, Senate Bill 1718, went into effect on July 1, 2023. Chronister doesn’t seem to have been all that interested in it.
“We do not target individuals based on their immigration status – that’s the authority of federal agencies. Our goal is to build trust and foster strong partnerships with all residents regardless of background,” Chronister said.
It’s a message that brought some relief to people concerned with the new immigration law.
“Having the Sheriff coming out and explaining that he’s not going to enforce this law is something positive for the community,” said Ana Lamb, a Hispanic Community activist.
Bottom Line
If this is the kind of guy President Trump wants running the DEA, it is his right to nominate him. We are under no obligation to turn a blind eye to a guy with a record that looks very much like the people we want to get out of the federal government. I hope President Trump reconsiders this ill-considered nomination, but if he doesn’t, I hope there are at least four GOP senators who will do what he won’t.
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