Food Freedom Advocate Mark Baker Running for Sheriff in Michigan

Friday, September 30, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Mark Baker, sheriff, food freedom

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(NaturalNews) A Michigan man who once faced off against government agents over his refusal to kill feral pigs on his organic farm is now running for sheriff in a bid to end the agricultural tyranny, at least in his county.

Mark Baker, co-founder and owner of Baker's Green Acres, located in Marion, MI, told Natural News in an interview that the primary reason he is running is to restore constitutional order – beginning with Missaukee County, in which he resides.

He said that during his feral pig face off, he sent a letter to the sheriff asking him to intervene against federal and state agencies that were threatening his livelihood and, he thought, his safety. But the sheriff refused, claiming "he didn't have any authority to do that."

"That didn't line up with what I had been told" by other sheriffs and former sheriffs, like Richard Mack, founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.

'Our job is to protect the people, not be their jailer'

Because of this, he decided to run for the office of sheriff, though he has had no prior law enforcement experience. "I felt [the task] fell to me. I felt like I needed to continue my service to my country," said Baker, an Air Force veteran. He also said he would be appointing an under-sheriff to perform the day-to-day law enforcement work of the department.

If he wins, he says the very first thing he'll do is put the slogan, "To Protect And Serve" on the county's patrol vehicles. He says he believes that will send the right message to the people of the county, right off the bat.

In addition, Baker pledges to "be much more accessible" than the current office holder, James D. Bosscher, including going to people's homes to "see where they live" and to fulfill the pledge. "I'll be answering my own phone," he said, adding that the county sheriff's job, primarily, is to be the people's protector, "not their jailer."

As for his priorities as sheriff, Baker cited a growing methamphetamine and heroin problem in the community, vowing to re-prioritize the department's resources to combat drug traffickers. "I will have an agreement with the county prosecutor" to make that a high priority, Baker told Natural News.

Throughout the conversation, Baker kept referencing the Constitution as the law of the land and that he believes that, should he win, his victory – and his 'protector of the people' approach to his duties – will be a spark that will catch on elsewhere around the country.

'I'm a sheepdog'

In January 2014, Natural News reported that Baker had been told by a business associate that Baker was considered to be dangerous by local federal and state agriculture officials, and therefore they were forbidden to contact him.

In a letter to the Missaukee County Sheriff's Department, Baker said that "was an order that 'came down from the top.'" He also stated that only "armed DNR agents would visit our farm and that [I] was portrayed as a 'gun-wielding lunatic.'"

"I consider this to be a threat to my family," Baker wrote.

Baker's problems began in 2012, when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources issued new guidance on what constitutes feral pigs. Then, the state issued a declaratory ruling outlining nine traits which redefined Baker's pigs - and thousands of others across the state that were being raised by other farmers - as "invasive species," which, as such, must be destroyed.

He said that he and other local farmers had been raising the same species of pigs for decades. He added that he thought the declaratory ruling was arbitrary in nature and designed to favor commercial pork producers in the area. Baker eventually won his case.

Before he left the Air Force, Baker said he once sat in on a talk given by an Army lieutenant colonel who told the audience there are three kinds of people in the world: Sheep, wolves and sheepdogs. He says most people are sheep preyed upon by wolves, whom he sees largely as government bureaucrats and agencies. And then there are sheepdogs, the protectors of the sheep against the wolves.

"I'm a sheepdog," Baker said. "I always have been."

You can view Mark Bakers campaign website here at MarkBakerForSheriff.com.

Sources:

NaturalNews.com

BakersGreenAcres.com

MarkBakerForSheriff.com