On Jan. 15, in testimony opposing a police reform bill, Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank told state senators that he did not recognize their authority, would encourage his deputies to violate the law, and threatened to defend the county-city administration building with thousands of loyalists if state government attempted to remove him from office.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I and they are prepared,” he said. “Are you prepared?”
Swank was speaking in opposition to Senate Bill 5974, which would create a civilian oversight board capable of removing elected county sheriffs for misconduct…