Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwood, from Volusia County.
Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwood, from Volusia County.
A US sheriff has become an instant hero after laying down the law against a group of neo-Nazis terrorising the Jewish community in his local area.
Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwood, from Volusia County, near Orlando, is on a mission to drive far-right extremists out of the area in a seriesof public take-downs of the Goyim Defence League (GDL) and its sympathisers.
The GDL hate group has been at the centre of a spate of disturbing anti-Semitic attacks across the county and online – including distributing explicit propaganda, performing the Nazi salute, and hurling verbal abuse and threats at Jewish people.
Now Sheriff Chitwood has become somewhat of a cult icon for his colourful, unfiltered press conferences and repeated efforts to show GDL “clowns” they are not welcome in Volusia.
The Scumbag Eradication Team shirts feature a cartoon of Sheriff Chitwood being sold by Volusia County Sheriff's department.
Most recently that has meant ripping into the “losers” at press conferences and online, tauntingly “greeting” extradited extremists, and sharing “scumbag eradication team” merchandise online.
Sheriff Chitwood went viral in March for going nuclear in a press conference about a series of shameful attacks attributed to the GDL.
“These scumbags came to the wrong county,” he told reporters.
“We have unity in this county, we stand beside one another in this county, and we stand beside our Jewish neighbours.
Sheriff Chitwood described the GDL’s actions – which included demonstrating at a South Orlando synagogue and hurling gross slurs and threats at Jewish drivers and pedestrians – as “pure evil”.
“They try to besmirch your character. They try to put death threats out on you and threaten you and your family,” he continued.
“This clown group wants to shut my mouth and put a bullet in the back of my head,” he said.
Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwood, from Volusia County says the GDL has come to the wrong county. Photo / Facebook
“Go for it, that’s my message to you. Go for it.
“You came to the wrong county. I stand with my Jewish friends and I’m honoured to be on your hit list. It’s an honour to be sought after by a bunch of punks like you.”
Sheriff Chitwood has been targeted by death threats and harassment from online “keyboard commandos” – before and even more after his passionate press conference challenge – that he claimed on the day as a “badge of honour”.
Since March, two men have been arrested in relation to death threats against the sheriff posted to 4chan message boards.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood holds up an image of Richard Golden who was arrested after making threats against Chitwood.
The most recent arrest was 30-year-old Tyler Meyer, a San Diego man who allegedly posted about his plan to “shoot” Sheriff Chitwood, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s too bad Mike Chitwood isn’t safe now that I’m planning to kill him. I’m going to shoot Mike Chitwood. I’m going to kill him by shooting him to death,” the post allegedly read.
The message was posted anonymously on the ‘Politically Incorrect’ board of 4chan in response to the arrest of another 4chan user, 38-year-old Richard Golden in New Jersey.
Golden was arrested in March at his mother’s home for writing similarly threatening posts, suggesting someone “shoot Chitwood in the head and murder him”.
Even after both arrests, Sheriff Chitwood refused to back down, tweeting seemingly mocking remarks about the similarities between the arrested “losers”.
Anyone noticing a trend with these losers? Other than being brainwashed by hate https://t.co/9LINFlsQ32
“Anyone noticing a trend with these losers? Other than being brainwashed by hate,” he wrote, retweeting a photo of Meyer.
After the first arrest, he offered choice words for the “indoctrinated” Golden at a press conference announcing his arrest.
“Here’s a clown sitting in his bedroom who is indoctrinated by this bulls**t and thinks the best way to solve the problem is to put a bullet in my head,” he told reporters.
Golden has since been extradited to Florida, where Sheriff Chitwood wished the detainee to “enjoy your stay in Florida” after he arrived at the Orlando Sanford International Airport to be transported to jail.
These “master race” white supremacist morons keep dropping flyers of the “Cross Dressing Sheriff” like it’s going to hurt my feelings or turn people against me. Hey losers, here are a few more photos you can use. pic.twitter.com/TScHwNPkrY
The Sheriff’s Office has even designed its own “Scumbag Eradication” T-shirts, which it is selling to raise funds for educational trips to the Florida Holocaust Museum, according to media reports.
Yet, all the while, the GDL has continued to make disgusting remarks about the “cross-dressing sheriff” and posting photos of him wearing a green bra at a breast cancer fundraiser, seemingly in a bid to humiliate him.
“These ‘master race’ white supremacist morons keep dropping flyers of the ‘cross-dressing sheriff’ like it’s going to hurt my feelings or turn people against me,” he replied on social media. “Hey losers, here are a few more photos you can use.”
He shared a collage of pictures of him wearing colourful bras as a “celebrity model” for a breast cancer fundraiser, demanding those who “have a problem with that, get a life”.
