Heroux calls out Hodgson on white supremacists connections
Incumbent Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s connectons with extremist and white supremacist groups and its symbols is troubling. Paul Heroux is asking Hodgson to denounce them.
On Friday, September 30, at 9PM, two radio hosts on WBSM radio demanded that Heroux back up his claims that Hodgson was wearing a Confederate tie, or apologize to Hodgson. Heroux is providing the proof, and more.
Here are the facts:
In a since-deleted official portrait, Hodgson is shown wearing a Confederate tie. At least three historians agree that the tie is a nod to the Confederacy but Hodgson still denies it, calling the Confederate tie “patriotic.” Yet there’s no question: an identical “Designer Tie with Diagonal Confederate Battle Stars’ can be found for $23.95 at DLGrandeurs Confederate and Rebel Goods, as a “Confederate Rebel tie” on Pinterest, and as an “Old South necktie” at confederateshop.com.
Additional research by the Heroux campaign has found that, since at least 2014, Hodgson has worked with The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which is categorized as a hate group by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. Hodgson began working with FAIR by organizing sheriff tours of the Rio Grande, and on one of these taxpayer-funded junkets, he visited the ranch of Mike and Linda Vickers, a couple involved with the Minuteman militia. In 2017 Hodgson joined FAIR’s National Advisory Board, a veritable who’s who of racists, conspiracy theorists, homophobes, antisemites, and Muslim-bashers.
Hodgson organized a crowd-funding effort to build Trump’s border wall and transferred its funds to the American Border Foundation, another group associated with white supremacists. But today still nobody knows where the money went and Hodgson has refused to reply to information requests.
Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) records show that in 2014 Hodgson paid dues to CSPOA, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group that thinks Sheriffs have the right to interpret the Constitution as they see fit and ignore laws they don’t like, notably public health regulations and immigration laws. The Anti-Defamation League classifies CSPOA as an anti-government extremist group.
Most recently, Hodgson serves as a National Advisor with another group of “Constitutional Sheriffs” called Protect America Now which, in partnership with the Election Denial group True the Vote and CSPOA, has promised to “protect” the next Presidential election. CSPOA has warned that it’s prepared to seize voting machines.
“I am calling on Sheriff Hodgson to admit that he wore Confederate memorabilia, denounce the Confederate memorabilia and all it stands for, and abandon the hate and extremist groups he has worked with for almost a decade,” said Paul Heroux.
Citizens for Paul Heroux, candidate for Bristol County Sheriff
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