


In a state already reeling from crime, fentanyl deaths, and a collapsing trust in public safety, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has decided the real threat is a sheriff’s deputy who pulled someone over for tailgating.
This isn’t satire. It’s Weiser’s latest political stunt: a lawsuit against Mesa County Deputy Alexander Zwinck, who made the mistake of doing his job. His “crime”? Sharing basic information with federal immigration authorities after a routine traffic stop revealed the driver was a Brazilian national with an expired visa.
Weiser’s office calls that a civil rights violation. Normal people call it law enforcement.
Let’s be clear: Deputy Zwinck didn’t beat anyone, didn’t racially profile anyone, didn’t violate any citizen’s constitutional rights. He simply alerted federal agents in his federally funded drug task force that someone was in the country illegally. That’s not scandalous. That’s called coordination. It’s what law enforcement has done for decades to keep our streets safe.
But Weiser isn’t interested in safety. He’s interested in headlines.
His lawsuit relies on a distorted interpretation of Colorado’s sanctuary statutes, laws that were meant to keep state officers from becoming de facto ICE agents, not to criminalize communication between deputies and their federal partners. But that doesn’t matter to Weiser. Because this lawsuit was never about the law. It was about politics.
You see, Weiser has national ambitions. And in the age of identity politics and social media clout, nothing says “I’m with the Resistance” like taking a swing at federal immigration enforcement and President Trump. Better yet, punish a rural deputy for cooperating with them. It's an ideal virtue signal: zero cost to city dwellers, bold statement to the X crowd.
Unfortunately, there is a cost to every officer in Colorado. With this stunt, Weiser has made it clear: follow federal law at your own peril. Do your job, and you might be next. The message to law enforcement is unmistakable if you don't fit with his political ideologies.
Worse yet, Weiser knows exactly what he’s doing. Zwinck isn’t just any deputy -- he’s part of the Western Colorado Drug Task Force, a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program that exists specifically to facilitate coordination between state, local, and federal officers. That includes Homeland Security Investigations agents who enforce both drug and immigration laws. For Weiser to pretend that this coordination was rogue or illegal is dishonest at best, malicious at worst.
Let’s not forget who the driver was either: not a U.S. citizen, not a minor traffic offender, but a foreign national who had overstayed her visa and violating federal law. In any sane world, notifying immigration authorities would be considered common sense. Under Phil Weiser’s regime, it’s a punishable offense.
This isn’t law and order, it’s theatrics and very dangerous theatrics.
And it begs the question: If Weiser is willing to stretch the law to slap a $50,000 fine on a deputy for upholding it, what else is he willing to do in pursuit of political gain? How many other officers are looking over their shoulders right now, wondering if doing their job will land them in court?
The irony is rich. Weiser claims to be defending “the rule of law,” but what he’s really defending is a partisan ideology that puts politics above public safety. He lectures about constitutional crises while ignoring the one he’s creating -- where the law bends to ideology, and the enforcers become the accused.
Phil Weiser isn’t standing up for civil rights. He’s standing on the backs of law enforcement to climb the political ladder.
This lawsuit should be laughed out of court, but more importantly, it should be remembered for what it is: a cynical, calculated betrayal of the men and women who keep Colorado safe.
Chris Nelson is the Senior Investigator for Judicial Watch. He is a former Special Agent and Intelligence Operations Specialist who retired after over 35 years of government service.

Image: Phil Photos