Sierchio Doubles-Down on Clueless Assessment of Terrorism

Gannon calls opponents’ understanding of modern-day terrorism and ISIS “dangerously unsophisticated for someone running to be County Sheriff”

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Gannon (973)588-5089

Boonton, May 4, 2016 – Just a week after Morris County Sheriff candidate John Sierchio awkwardly likened ISIS’s chance of attacking Morris County to “winning the lottery” at a Montville Republican Club debate, Sierchio doubled-down on his stunning ignorance regarding modern-day terrorism by saying that he “has a bridge to sell” anyone who believes “an ISIS tank is going to drive down Route 202” during the Morris Plains Candidate’s Night on Monday evening.  (Source: http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/26/morris-gop-sheriff-candidates-debate-terrorism-jail-heroin/83534176/)

In a recent PolitickerNJ.com story, Sierchio also dismissed the San Bernardino terrorists as simply “a husband and wife who decide[d] to go out there and cause harm.”  (Source: http://politickernj.com/2016/04/sierchio-morris-freeholder-board-wants-puppet-for-sheriff/)

Gannon, who was a member of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, served as a Patrolman in Boonton and Boonton Township, Deputy Chief of Investigations at the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and recently retired as the Global Head of Security Risk for Novartis, called Mr. Sierchio’s recent remarks “dangerously unsophisticated for someone running to be Morris County Sheriff.”

“With the growing strength and influence of ISIS, radical Islamic terrorism is evolving. The use of social media and the internet, along with anti-American speech by hateful clerics, is meant to radicalize individuals for Jihad against Americans,” said Gannon.  “Just because someone wasn’t trained overseas in some organized terrorist camp doesn’t mean they aren’t terrorists; and just because they can’t drive a tank down Route 202 doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take them seriously.  Frankly, Mr. Sierchio sounds as naïve as President Obama once sounded when he dismissed ISIS as ‘the jayvee team’ and proved to the world that he didn’t understand the threat that we were facing.”

“I will repeat what I said last week and what I have been telling voters during this campaign:  Morris County is a wonderful place to live – it’s where I was born and raised – but to pretend we are somehow immune to what’s happening in the rest of the world demonstrates a dangerous level of indifference on Mr. Sierchio’s part,” said Gannon.  “I honestly believe such a head-in-the-sand attitude towards the threat of terrorism is disqualifying for someone running to be Sheriff.”

#####