Sheriff Clarke mocks Mayor Barrett for 2009 beating near State Fair Park after Barrett criticizes him

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke poked fun at Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for the 2009 incident near Wisconsin State Fair Park in which Barrett was beaten with a tire iron.

The latest war of words between the two elected officials began last week, when Barrett accused Clarke of abandoning his Milwaukee County job in favor of appearances on Fox News.

"I've never once, never once, seen Sheriff Clarke at a crime scene," Barrett said during a WisconsinEye public affairs interview. "I think he's got a great gig going right now. He's fighting crime one conservative cable TV show at a time."

Clarke returned fire on the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page, poking fun at the "milquetoast mayor" for the incident in which Barrett attempted to help a woman and her baby during a domestic dispute while leaving the Wisconsin State Fair.

"The last time Tom Barrett showed up at a crime scene he got his (butt) kicked by a drunk, tire-iron wielding man who beat him within inches of his life," Clarke wrote on the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

Barrett was left with a broken hand and cuts to his face. Anthony Peters was convicted of the attack on the mayor and is currently serving time in the Columbia Correctional Institute, a state prison in Columbia County.

Sheriff Clarke posted a side-by-side image of on-duty deputies and the injured major, blasting the mayor on Facebook for allowing too much violent crime to happen in Milwaukee on his watch.

"If you had to call for help, who would you rather show up, me or Timid Tom?" Clarke wrote. "Time to crawl back into your hole, Tom, unless you want some more of this, because I have some."

Asked for comment on Sunday, March 19th, Barrett appeared to have had enough.

"I'm more than happy to let my statements and my staff's statements speak for themselves," Barrett said.

Barrett's chief of staff, Patrick Curley, had more to say, saying that Clarke "can find no new lows, no new depths to sink to."

"To dismiss and minimize the actions the mayor took to protect the lives of a woman and child is unconscionable and a sad and true reflection of the sheriff himself," Curley said in an emailed statement.