Opinion

Watching Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden from afar, I can’t shake the suspicion that he’s actually a 19-year-old anarchist from Lawrence — coated in old-age makeup and destroying a law enforcement agency from within.

How else could I possibly explain Hayden’s descent into right-wing fever dreams and seeming endorsement of “slippery” actions? Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter wrote about a meeting between the public and sheriff on Aug. 30 that has to be read to be believed. Looking through it, I counted one wild tangent after another.

Lawrence arrests. Hayden apparently wanted “nothing more than go down Mass. Street and arrest them all,” referring to protesters in Lawrence.

For reference, Lawrence sits in an entirely different county that’s not under Hayden’s jurisdiction. Yes, yes, he was referring to a mutual aid request, but I for one would love a law enforcement official to be excited about defending the First Amendment, rather than shutting down those exercising the right to peaceably assemble.

IRS ire. “They’re going to have to have every IRS agent in the United States come to Johnson County, Kansas, before they start doing the crap they’re doing,” Hayden proclaimed in response to the IRS finally being funded and able to hire new personnel. “We’re going to be 500 strong, and we’ll do what we need to do.”

In other words, the sheriff wants to deploy his forces to defend a bunch of Johnson County tax cheats.

Polling place photos. “Be slippery...

Read Full Story: https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/19/in-johnson-county-and-emporia-a-sherif...