President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci are now wanted for questioning in one small corner of Texas.
Judge Clyde Black, a justice of the peace in sparsely populated Houston County, issued “peace bond” warrants this week for Mr. Biden and his chief medical adviser, accusing them of breaking various state laws through their lax immigration policies, restrictive COVID-19 rules and purported threat to Second Amendment rights.
“People in my county are nervous,” Judge Black said. “Nobody would admit to being scared — folks here aren’t afraid of too much — and people have come to me concerned about what’s happening. They think they might get in trouble if they go to church, some of the mandated stuff with COVID bothers them. They are worried about their ability to speak freely.”
The Marine veteran told The Washington Times, “These folks want to do something. They asked me what we could do.”
He decided to issue the peace bond warrants, his first in 15 years as a justice of the peace. Texas criminal code requires such warrants to state the name of the person whose arrest is sought and the alleged offenses.
The warrant for Mr. Biden accuses him of “mandatory allowed entry of illegal criminal immigrants; threatening illegal confiscation of personal firearms; endangering lives with mask mandates; ordering mandatory vaccinations; creating panic and fear with false pandemic numbers; creating danger with gender regulations in schools against the laws of the state of Texas.”
The warrant for Dr. Fauci, who is generally recognized as the federal government’s top authority on the coronavirus pandemic, claims that he has “endangered lives; creating public fear and panic;” and has engaged in “policies denying medicine needed to fight disease and more.”
In both cases, the aggrieved party is listed as “John Doe — Multiple Citizens.”
The president will visit Texas on Friday, to assess the recovery from last week’s harsh winter storm, widespread power outages and lack of drinking water. He’s expected to meet with local officials in the city of Houston, and to visit a COVID-19 health center where people are being vaccinated.
But Judge Black harbors no illusions about the authorities actually bringing in the president for questioning as a result of his warrant. He also doesn’t pretend that his warrants have much legal force beyond the lines of the Davy Crockett National Forest and the rest of rural Houston County, which lies about 100 miles north of its namesake city.
“It’s a serious warrant to have these people brought before me,” he said of Mr. Biden and Dr. Fauci. “Realistically, however, I doubt the Secret Service will give them up. My authority doesn’t extend beyond state lines. But should they come into Texas, well …”
Judge Black turned over the warrants to the Houston County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday. He chuckled at the likely reaction there.
“My sheriff is going to hate me,” he said. “The poor guy is brand new; just got sworn into office.”
Judge Black said he didn’t issue the warrants as a lark. He said his action has been well-received locally, but he acknowledged it probably won’t go over well beyond the state’s borders.
“It’s been very positive, the reaction from the people who have responded so far,” he said. “I’m not anticipating that will continue to be the case.”
He said the extended COVID-19 lockdowns, combined with the tone and temperament of executive orders from the Biden administration, have done real damage to his community.
“There’s nursing homes where people can’t visit, this has affected livelihoods and people have lost jobs,” Judge Black said. “These folks want to do something. They asked me what we could do.”
Houston County, the first established in Texas in 1837, has a population of less than 25,000 and is largely comprised of ranchland and farms. The median family income is slightly more than $35,000, and the COVID-19 vaccines are just starting to trickle in, Judge Black said.
“We’re very rural, a poor county,” he said.
He allowed that not everyone in Houston County has a clear picture of what is involved with COVID-19 vaccines. But he said many residents were irate earlier when physicians could not prescribe hydroxychloroquine. Some residents are also suspicious of Big Pharma, he said.
While none of this is likely to be alleviated by peace warrants, Judge Black said the feeling of helplessness running rampant in Houston County compelled him to act.
“I think folks are just glad of some action,” he said. “Something has to be done.”
• James Varney can be reached at jvarney@washingtontimes.com.
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