Community Government Police & Fire

In interview, Sheriff Swank stands by controversial statements

Newly elected Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank may not have had a lot to say about sanctuary cities and undocumented immigrants during his brief remarks to the Pierce County Council at its April 29 meeting. But he did have a lot to say to Gig Harbor Now.

Among the many issues Swank and Gig Harbor Now covered in an interview on the evening of April 30 were not only the constitutionality of sanctuary cities, but also whether U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi was involved in coordinating the attack on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Read a full transcript of the interview here.)

Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank

Swank also said that Washington’s Democrats ran election interference against him and that former Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr was a principal “operative” in it. He inferred that Rahr later secured a position at the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) for his 2024 election opponent, Patti Jackson.

Interview on conservative radio program

Recently, Swank went on the Jason Rantz show to talk about his feelings regarding sanctuary cities and counties and the constitutionality of such areas.

On the show, Swank said that the Pierce County Council never contacted him about passing a resolution affirming Pierce County’s commitment to being a sanctuary county — which the council did at its April 29 meeting. He said he was going to reach out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), President Donald Trump’s administration, and the Department of Justice.

“I am going to tell them what’s going on here, and I am contemplating entering into the 287 (g) [Program], which is the agreement with ICE to help them detain illegal aliens,” Swank told Rantz.

When Rantz said that this would be against state law, Swank said, “Yes, absolutely.”

“Of course,” he continued, “I believe it’s an unconstitutional law. But it’s the same thing we’re talking about with the Adams County Sheriff.”

Swank told Rantz the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is second in size only to King County, and that Pierce County has a jail, and Adams County does not, “so it’s a big deal.”

“They are passing this stuff without talking to me … so, obviously, they don’t care what I have to say, and they are against me,” Swank continued. “So, I am ready to fight fire with fire.”

Past social media posts

This is not the first time Swank has publicly commented on hot button issues that might raise concern amongst those he was writing about. In fact, he would have been fired for social media posts and comments he made in 2023 as a police captain at the Seattle Police Department.

Swank left SPD in 2023, shortly before the OPA began investigating his conduct. A disciplinary report released earlier this year reveals that interim SPD Chief Sue Rahr met with Swank about his comments.

Rahr wrote that Swank “opined that OPA just does not like” his politics, and that he had posted purposefully provocative material in order to get his name into the public eye. According to Rahr, Swank also said that he was protected under the First Amendment.

Back then, he reportedly wrote that “Democrats enjoy—deeply—chopping up babies,” in reference to abortion.

While the above post appears to have been deleted, Swank went on a several-day spate of posting, “Daily reminder: The Democrat party is the party of slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK, anti-civil rights, segregation, Planned Parenthood (founded by Margaret Sanger, an evil racist, to kill black babies).”

Swank claimed in another post that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi “coordinated” the Jan. 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and that it “[w]ould be great to see this criminal face accountability for her crime.”

Swank also reportedly wrote, “It’s time for Republican prosecutors across the country to start investigating Pelosi, Schumer, Swalwell, etc. I’m giving you the names, now find the crimes.”

Office of Police Accountability investigation

Swank told Gig Harbor Now that he still believes Pelosi and other Democrats were behind the attack. Asked where he got his information, he said, “investigations and on news, things like that.”

He also said that “we’re not going to be able to get a full picture of what happened on that day because there’s been records and documents that have been destroyed” by the Democrats.

It was also reported that Swank wrote on social media that transgender people are just “[m]en and women who pretend to be the other sex … appropriating gender. #KeeptheRepublicSafe”.

While that post appears to have been deleted, a post from March 24, 2023, reads: “Transwomen are men. #KeeptheRepublicSafe”.

Swank also made a host of other comments that prompted Seattle-based publication PubliCola to reach out to both SPD and the Office of Police Accountability (OPA). SPD did not file a complaint after PubliCola reached out, but the OPA opened an investigation into Swank’s online conduct.

Swank was no longer an SPD employee and Rahr could not issue discipline. Yet she still wrote that Swank’s comments “gave the people we serve reason to believe that you and the officers under your command would not treat them fairly and equitably, particularly given your rank,” and that “[b]iased, inflammatory rhetoric has no place in policing.”

“You dishonor the department and the profession,” Rahr continued. “If you were still a department employee, I would have terminated your employment.”

Swank told both KING-5 and The Seattle Times the same thing: “SPD’s mischaracterizations are completely false and one hundred percent politically motivated. If SPD’s top brass, mayor, and city council spent as much time fighting crime as they did on partisan politics then Seattle would have fewer serious problems.”

Interview with Gig Harbor Now

When Gig Harbor Now asked if there was anything he wanted to say on that matter, Swank replied, “Yeah, there’s something I want to say.”

“Sue Rahr — well, she’s facing some lawsuits now about her conduct [at SPD], and her short time as being interim chief because she’s a complete failure, and she did a terrible job at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission [CJTC],” Swank said. “She’s completely weaponized that place.”

Swank went on to accuse Rahr and the Democrats of election interference and of specifically targeting him during his 2024 campaign for Pierce County sheriff.

“It’s typical actions from Democrats and what they do, and always cheating, always doing things like that, and the party itself and operatives like [Rahr],” Swank said. “And it’s clear that she was behind my opponent. As you can see, she made sure that my opponent [Patti Jackson], after she lost the election, got a job with the Criminal Justice Training Commission.”

Gig Harbor Now asked Swank whether he thought his public comments might have a chilling effect on undocumented immigrants calling the police for help, given his stance on the matter, and his failure to distinguish violent criminals from undocumented immigrants as a whole.

Swank said that he prefers the term “illegal aliens,” because the term “[undocumented immigrants] makes it sound like somebody just forgot their papers, or they left them at home, or they didn’t take them with them or sign up like they’re supposed to.”

“My officers are not enforcing civil detainers for immigration, so anybody that calls 911 can feel safe and secure that Pierce County Sheriff’s Office deputies, when they show up, are going to help them out,” Swank continued. “The reason why people are saying that is to try to make it look like I’m the bad guy here, and I’m doing this and scaring people, so they should try to drum up resentment or anger towards me.”