A former Arizona sheriff says gays in Utah “are shoving their agenda down our throats” and is calling for an “uprising” against same-sex marriage.
Speaking at a rally in Highland, Utah, on Saturday, Richard Mack — a former Graham County, Ariz., sheriff and founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association — said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and other elected leaders have failed at their jobs, and it’s up to law enforcement and everyday citizens to deny same-sex marriage.
“The way you take back freedom in America is one county at a time. The sheriffs need to defend the county clerks in saying, ‘No, we’re not going to issue marriage licenses to homosexuals,’” Mack said at the event, billed as a call for an uprising by opponents of same-sex marriage.
“The people of Utah have rights, too, not just the homosexuals. The homosexuals are shoving their agenda down our throats,” Mack said.
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Mack says that the federal government’s ruling doesn’t overrule Utah’s laws.
Mack is a two-time candidate for the U.S. Congress who in 1997 won a U.S. Supreme Court case challenging provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
He spent eleven years with the Provo, Utah, police department.