Mecklenburg sheriff will watch the ‘star’ in recruits’ eyes dim, he says in speech
In an unusual speech to recruits Friday, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said he will watch the star “dim” in his new employees’ eyes — and that he will be blamed.
“The hardest thing I have (to do) is stand here in a few minutes and watch the beautiful star in your eyes,” McFadden told a platoon at their graduation ceremony. “And over a period of time, I watch that star dim. Why? Because somebody dimmed your light. And you know who they say? The sheriff.”
The speech revolved largely around himself, though he occasionally tied in the recruits.
“We love them today,” he mused, speaking of the seven recruits. “But will we love them when the times get tough? Or when you’re standing there alone, and you’re hoping somebody comes through that door? They will not. They will say, ‘I’m checking on you.’ But why not a conversation?”
He lamented: “If I’m drowning, do I need to tell you to throw me something? If I’m hungry, do I need to tell you to feed me?”
Of the scrutiny he’s under following allegations of abuse of power, he said: “The whispers will go back in the hallway, like they always have. And they say: ‘Trust me.’ That’s what you all are going to have to deal with.”
The sheriff made clear his view of his leadership: “Is he yelling and screaming and talking? Yes. Is he pushing us? Yes. Will he push us? Yes. Will he ask you a question? Yes. Will it be direct? Yes. Will you look for a direct answer? Yes. Are you racist? Absolutely not.”
Controversy started this month
McFadden’s chief deputy, Kevin Canty, resigned Nov. 1 and sent a scathing letter to the entire sheriff’s office saying McFadden abuses his power and the office’s internal affairs process. Canty later provided The Charlotte Observer and other news outlets with a recording of McFadden saying he didn’t trust a “cracker” captain who was still better than seven Black captains.
McFadden has declined interview requests from The Charlotte Observer about Canty’s allegations. His communications staff has not answered detailed questions.
McFadden has served in the role since 2018. His staff operate the jail in uptown, provide security at the county courthouse and deliver court papers, like warrants.
He bullies staff, uses his internal affairs office to settle personal scores and flouts the chain of command that makes a sheriff’s office work, Canty told the Observer in an interview last week.
“You have a lot of people who are just terrified of him,” the former chief deputy said.
The ‘sacrificial lamb’
McFadden discussed the allegations against him in vague terms Friday.
“The reason that I cannot be racist: Because I don’t want anybody to go through what I go through since I was born into this world as a Black man,” the sheriff said. “Let me say that again. I don’t want anybody to go through what I continuously go through, even to this second.”
Both McFadden and Canty are Black.
Former staffers say McFadden has told Black employees they have a “plantation mentality,” according to Canty and the local Fraternal Order of Police.
Retired Maj. Jeff Eason said in an interview with the Observer that he remembered hearing the sheriff say, “This place has been run like a plantation” days after McFadden took office.
Eason said McFadden called him a part of the “good old boy” system.
“The implication was that I just fetched and carried for whatever sheriff was in charge at the time,” said Eason, who worked at the sheriff’s office for about 30 years.
On Friday, McFadden invoked literature, citing from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” and William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus.” Then he went to the Bible.
“Let nobody tell you that we’re not a great agency,” he said. “And we’ll be greater and better moving forward. Why? Because God sent me here for a reason. And if I’m the sacrificial lamb to upset the word ‘racism’ in America, so be it.”
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 5:00 AM.