“If Matthews had a problem with the article he could have contacted me,” said Motley, the KCP member who posted the CopBlock link. “I had thought about not posting, but felt the article made a valid point.”

Rather than speak to any KCP members, Sheriff Matthews told his officers “that there is a group in this county that is reading stuff that says it’s OK to shoot a cop… That article does suggest that, at certain times, it’s OK to shoot a cop.”

Here’s what Rose actually said about “certain times” in his article:

“To get a little perspective, try watching a documentary or two about some of the atrocities committed by [tyrannical] regimes… Pause the film when the jackboots are about to herd innocent people into cattle cars, or gun them down as they stand on the edge of a ditch, and THEN ask yourself the question, ‘When should you shoot a cop?

“We’ve always encouraged our members and officers to have their opinions, but when you talk about doing harm to somebody, that is the line, because that doesn’t represent values of the Republican Party,” Oviatt said.

In a similar vein and without any evidence, Sheriff Matthews attempted to publicly conflate KCP with a murderous anti-government extremist group called the Sovereign Citizens, which is currently under investigation by the FBI:

“I don’t know if they’re aligned with the Sovereign Citizen movement,” said Sheriff Matthews when asked about the connection to KCP by the Chronicle-Independent. “I don’t know if they all have the same membership rolls, but they certainly seem to hang together.”

Mattox categorically denied any connection to Sovereign Citizens: “We’re not affiliated with them in any way.”

Sheriff Matthews also characterized KCP as “ultra right wing … extremist” without explanation and “[wondered] what they are doing that they want to isolate themselves from any law enforcement intervention.”

Sheriff Matthews ran for office on the Republican Party ticket and regularly attended Kershaw County Republican Party meetings until after his election. He then voluntarily isolated himself from the GOP meetings, because, according to him, KCP “hijacked the meetings.”

Fusion centers have also been known to infiltrate local activist groups, as was the case with the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, an antiwar group located in Washington state. Wikileaks.org released a document showing that domestic “Army Fusion Cells” coordinate with local law enforcement to collect information on local activists.

Sheriff Matthews’ current law enforcement position, his federal Drug Enforcement Administration background, his “hateful” and “ultra right wing … extremist” rhetoric and his monitoring of the Kershaw County Patriot group appear to be the “smoking guns” connecting him to the South Carolina Fusion Center and the types of operations that fusion centers are known to carry out against the American people?

Mattox released a statement on July 28, 2011 in which he called for the immediate resignation of Sheriff Matthews.

“Sheriff Jim Matthews has unfairly and illogically compared me to extremists and criminals. He has acted in such a manner as to portray me as a threat to the citizens of this county,” said Mattox in his statement. “Sheriff Jim Matthews has abused his office and I am demanding now … that he resign from the office of sheriff for his shameful and disgraceful efforts to destroy one solitary man on the most ridiculous pretense imaginable.”

Mattox also called for the immediate resignations of Co-Chairman Oviatt and South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Chad Connelly for their complicity in attacking his character and for Connelly’s silence on “the matter of the Lt. Governor.”

“If they cannot arrest me,” Mattox said, “then why do they expend so much effort to publicly malign me by using the power and prestige of their offices to, in the most outlandish and bizarre behavior I have ever witnessed, falsely accuse me of being a terrorist or worse?”

Meanwhile, in a classic case of attacking the messengers instead of the message, Larken Rose’s offer to defend his article goes unheeded:

“I would love to have a public discussion with the Sheriff who claims the article is ‘irresponsible’ and ‘hateful.’ Instead of suiting up for battle, maybe we can have a rational discussion, instead. I’d prefer an exchange of words to an exchange of bullets any day. So how about it, Mr. Sheriff?”

Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff Jim Matthews
803-425-1512
kcso@kershaw.sc.gov