Sheriff Swank: Focus on the county, not social media controversy | Opinion
This weekend, Pierce County’s sheriff took to social media to post incendiary comments on a national issue. It wasn’t the first time, but it marked a low point in his online activity as a sheriff.
The posts were irresponsible and repeated talking points that cruelly stigmatize a minority group, and I take issue with their content. But more to the point, they’re one more example of Swank’s lack of self control and his irresponsible focus on generating controversy online as part of an effort to make a name for himself.
I’m not reading into his actions. Swank has said clearly in the past that his intention is to be provocative to increase his name recognition. In my view, he’s using his position in our county not to protect and serve us, but to serve his goal of getting national attention for vile online comments.
This behavior has no impact on the crime rate or public safety in Pierce County, which is what taxpayers pay Swank more than $207,000 a year to address.
I don’t like repeating Swank’s words. But since many residents don’t spend time on the social media platform called X (and good for them), I can’t really write about it without this context. So, here it is, Swank’s post from Monday afternoon:
“Do you think it’s time to ban trans people from owning guns?”
In subsequent replies to comments on his posts, Swank made it clear he was asking this question because he believes trans people are by definition mentally ill. As a result, letting them have guns is dangerous. He also agreed with a reply that said taking guns from trans people would force Democrats to defend the second amendment.
He posted again, declaring that he can say whatever he wants because he’s the sheriff.
I won’t be dragged into a debate over the humanity of trans people, which would be both tedious and callous. But I will say that the sheriff’s words have an impact on trans people and their loved ones who live here in Pierce County. It’s hateful toward a group of local people who rely on his department, and it paints them unjustly as dangerous.
On top of that, he’s going back on a promise. When asked about previous online posts, some of which also fear-mongered about trans people, Swank said they were from a time when he was running for U.S. Congress. He claimed that he would focus on serving the whole county if elected. These new posts fly in the face of that claim, and raise the question of what office Swank is positioning himself for right now.
Swank’s statements about his social media strategy reflect a belief that this is just how people with political ambitions play the game online. This approach is morally vacant. If the sheriff isn’t first asking if his actions hurt people before posting online, it should give us all serious pause.
These types of posts gave pause to Swank’s previous employer, the Seattle Police Department. In a 2025 disciplinary report, interim chief Sue Rahr said Swank would have been fired for his online activity if he hadn’t resigned in 2023 after the department began an investigation into his posts.
I asked Swank about his social media activity. Did he think he could treat everyone in the county fairly while posting negative comments about trans people on social media?
“Of course, I treat all people equally,” he said in an email. “We are there to help people, especially people with mental health issues. “
And do these posts serve the county in some way?
“My online activity is a way for people to get to know my belief systems and what I am doing for the marginalized to be heard,” he said.
In his email, the sheriff also said he posts about many topics, including “homelessness, [domestic violence], assaults, murders, human trafficking, illegal immigration, [and] mental health.” Then, unprompted, he laid out details of his belief that trans people are by definition mentally ill and therefore fit the category of people who aren’t allowed to have guns.
Joanne Levy, operations manager at the Rainbow Center, told me Swank’s rhetoric is both harmful to the trans community and factually incorrect. Among other things, she cited Department of Homeland Security data showing that cisgender men committed over 95 percent of mass attacks between 2016 and 2020.
A good leader would be trying to create connections between law enforcement agencies and the LGBTQ community, she said. Meanwhile, the sheriff’s current behavior creates divisions.
“What he presented was binary thinking of left versus right, trans people versus the mainstream,” and people with mental health problem versus people without them, she said. “Meanwhile, he is supposed to be serving everyone.”
Swank claims that he posts online in his personal time. By this way of thinking, his online habits aren’t distracting him from his job.
But his online activity is only important because he’s the sheriff. The reason people care about these posts, whether they agree with them or not, is because Swank is a sheriff. There is nothing special or original about what he’s saying. Frankly, it would just be more rage-baiting online content if Swank was a regular person.
Swank’s claim that he can say whatever he wants as sheriff is true in the great cosmic scheme of things, but only if you take the view that nothing matters at all.
Actions have consequences. When you’re a public figure, your public posts are part of your job. The sheriff’s job is to protect and serve everyone.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 11:39 AM.
