Sierchio’s Head-in-the-Sand Response to Terrorism Disqualifies Him in County Sheriff’s Race

Former FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Member Jim Gannon pledges the highest-level of preparedness possible to protect residents from terrorism

Contact: Jim Gannon (973)588-5089

Boonton, April 26, 2016 – Republican Sheriff Candidate and former FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Member Jim Gannon said today that his opponent, John Sierchio, has his head-in-the-sand when it comes to very real threat from ISIS and the potential for a terrorist attack in Morris County.

Gannon was reacting to Sierchio’s stunningly out-of-touch statement at last night’s Montville Republican Club debate, where the Essex County political insider awkwardly likened ISIS’s chance of attacking Morris County to “winning the lottery.”

“Anyone running for Morris County Sheriff who is so flippant about the threat of terrorist attacks on our residents and our communities, frankly, isn’t qualified to be Sheriff,” said Gannon, who served as a Patrolman in Boonton and Boonton Township, as well as the Deputy Chief of Investigations at the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and recently retired as the Global Head of Security Risk for Novartis.  “After watching with your own eyes what happened in San Bernardino, reading about the very serious and credible threats against shopping malls in Buffalo, New York last spring and the arrests in New Jersey of individuals who are supporting ISIS related activities, it astonishes me that Mr. Sierchio could be so dismissive of the intentions and capabilities of the radical Islamic extremists who want to do us harm.  His ignorance is frightening.”

Gannon, who led a detail of 30 Police Officers from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and Morris County Sheriff’s Office to New York City in response to the 9/11 attacks, and was faced with the brutally difficult task of returning to Morris County the following day to work with the families of 64 residents who were killed, said the experience left an indelible mark on him.

“While Mr. Sierchio doesn’t think terrorism is a concern, I personally led a detail of Detectives from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and Morris County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Section to conduct a series of search warrants with the FBI of New Jersey locations relevant to the 9/11 investigation,” said Gannon.  “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.”

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