Sheriff Clarke on Beyonce’s Halftime: Would It Be Acceptable If ‘A White Band Came Out In Hoods and White Sheets?

Commenting on Beyonce’s halftime show during Super Bowl 50, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke said he did not want to make “a huge deal about it,” but since Beyonce and the other dancers were wearing “Black Panther-type uniforms,” would it be acceptable if “a white band came out in hoods and white sheets in the same sort of fashion?”

Sheriff Clarke added that “the Black Panthers are a subversive hate group in America.”

On Fox Business Live, Feb. 8, reporter Jo Ling Kent asked Sheriff Clarke, “Beyonce put out a new video, music video called ‘Formation,’ and it has been interpreted to be pro-Black Lives Matter, and potentially looking at issues inside New Orleans as well. How did you -- there are some sheriffs that reacted poorly to that, they didn't like that, they turned their backs to Beyonce during the Super Bowl halftime show. What was your thought on the matter?”

Sheriff Clarke said,  “Well, I try not to overreact to these things, and I don't want to give this thing any more play than it's already getting. Look, musicians have long used their music, their trade, to make political statements in their music. We may not like it, but I don't want to make a huge deal about it.”

“Them coming out,” he said, “Beyonce in those Black Panther-type uniforms, would that be acceptable if a band, a white band came out in hoods and white sheets in the same sort of fashion?  We would be appalled and outraged. The Black Panthers are a subversive hate group in America.”

“I think she could have done a better job, but I think Bruno Mars was a better halftime act anyway,” said the sheriff.  “I could have watched him for the entire act.”

David A. Clarke Jr., a Democrat, was elected to a 4-year term as the sheriff of Milwaukee County in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014. In those elections he won, respectively, with 74%, 78%, 74%, and 79% of the vote.