YOUR VIEW: Time for state officials to investigate Sheriff Hodgson and his agenda

By David Ehrens
Posted Jan 26, 2019 

Things may be going to hell in Tom Hodgson’s own backyard — he has had the highest prisoner suicide rate in the state, the second-highest recidivism rate, tied for the highest rate of complaints of excessive force, and he is the subject of multiple wrongful death and human rights lawsuits — but when it comes to lobbying for Trump’s Wall, Hodgson and the far-right groups he has associated himself with are nothing if not persistent. On Jan. 11, Hodgson again traveled to Washington D.C. to promote Trump’s border wall.

On Jan. 2, Hodgson again blasted Congress for not providing funding, and on Jan. 4, he singled out Nancy Pelosi for her characterization of the wall as immoral. All this was done on official letterhead, likely in violation of state ethics regulations.

Hodgson watchers took note when the grandstanding sheriff announced that the right-wing National Sheriff’s Association (NSA), would be crowdfunding Trump’s wall. But Hodgson’s project folded after raising less than $100K in three months — despite his claims that network traffic had crashed the site. That site now redirects donors to a group called the American Border Foundation.

This new group should not be confused with the GoFundMe campaign that fell short of its goal but doesn’t want to return donations. That one was started by Brian Kolfage, a conspiracy nut and scamster who once duped donors eager to help wounded military vets. Kolfage’s organization is directed by a toxic crew — including Erik Prince, disgraced Sheriff David Clarke, and Kris Kobach.

In some ways, the sheriff’s fundraising project is even worse.

Hodgson’s new fundraising outfit, now run by the American Border Foundation, is not anywhere close to its $450 million goal. Its less-than 4,000 donors have raised barely over $200K. The founder, Gary Dolan, tried wall-building before with a FundRazr campaign that raised only $12K. The fund’s managing director, Quentin Kramer has appeared on the bible show Southern Sense and on a talk show which often invokes Article IV, Sec. 4, Clause 2 of the Constitution (“the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion...”).

“Illegal” immigration across the southern border is a central theme of both the Trump administration and the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), which Hodgson is a member of. Hodgson himself sits on the National Board of Advisors of FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), according to its website; FAIR has been labeled a racist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which notes that it was founded by John Tanton, a white supremacist.

If these pathetic donation efforts are any indication, the American public isn’t really embracing Trump’s wall. For all the fear-mongering and hype, most people know it’s a stupid waste of billions (“show me a 10-foot wall and I’ll show you an eleven foot ladder”). But for those who love the idea, it’s become their organizing principle, and they don’t care if the whole country has to suffer for them to get it.

As for Hodgson, it’s time the Massachusetts state auditor, the office of the inspector general, the attorney general, the Legislature, and the various state ethics boards began looking at Sheriff Hodgson’s abuses of his job as county jail superintendent — the letterhead, the inappropriate travel, the waste of taxpayer money — all to further an outrageous agenda.

David Ehrens lives in Dartmouth. He is a member of the group Bristol County for Correctional Justice.

https://www.southcoasttoday.com/opinion/20190126/your-view-time-for-state-officials-to-investigate-sheriff-hodgson-and-his-agenda