Twitter account of ex-sheriff David Clarke apparently hacked

Ex-Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr.’s Twitter account was apparently infiltrated on Monday by purported Turkish hackers.

A message posted to Clarke’s account Monday afternoon claimed that Turkish hacker group Ayyıldız Tim had compromised the account and gained access to his private direct messages. 

Roughly two hours after the tweet was posted, it was deleted from the account. 

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“Your account is hacked by the Turkish cyber army AYYILDIZ TIM! Your DM correspondence has been captured and interesting information has been reached! Turks are everywhere!” read the since-deleted tweet, which also contained the image of a Turkish flag.

Clarke is the latest in a string of conservative political figures targeted by Turkish hackers. Last week, hackers claiming to belong to the same group targeted former Fox News hosts Eric Bolling, Greta Van Susteren and Brit Hume.

The background photo for Clarke’s account and his bio were both briefly changed to include the hacker group’s identifiers, which were subsequently removed.

Clarke, who resigned from his post as sheriff last summer, often appears on Fox News and is a prominent supporter of President Trump. He has seen his profile rise in the Trump administration and was reportedly offered a job in the Department of Homeland Security last year that he ultimately did not take. Clarke delivered a speech in support of Trump at the Republican National Convention in July 2016. 

Efforts to reach Clarke for comment were unsuccessful. A spokesman for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The hacking effort comes as Clarke faces a federal trial over allegations he used the official Sheriff’s Facebook page to retaliate against an individual who had filed a complaint against him.