You don’t often see an election for a rural county sheriff go viral. It happened this week, however, after a man charged with murder announced that he’s running in 2026. Aaron Spencer is a former US Army Ranger and a combat veteran who is facing up to 30 years in prison. And when you hear his story, you just might decide you want to donate to his campaign.
The Spencer family’s tragic story began years ago. Aaron and his wife Heather have a young daughter. The boyfriend of a family friend—a senior citizen named Michael Fosler—started grooming their daughter years ago without their knowledge. Fosler eventually began molesting the girl.
When he was finally caught, Fosler was charged with 43 felony charges, including multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor, internet stalking of a child, and possession of child pornography. The daughter was 13 at the time of Fosler’s arrest. He was released from jail after posting a $5,000 bail bond. After he was released from jail, Fosler was arrested and apparently released again for violating a no-contact order with the victim.
At 1 a.m. on October 8, 2024, the Spencers called the police to report that their daughter, now 14, was missing. Aaron Spencer went driving around to look for her as deputies joined the search. Spencer spotted Fosler driving in his truck with his daughter in the passenger seat.
Spencer then forced Fosler’s vehicle off the road and confronted him. He later told deputies that Fosler lunged at him, and that he “had no choice.” Aaron Spencer shot the filthy SOB child molester dead.
Aaron Spencer has been charged with second degree murder. He faces up to 30 years in prison if prosecutors can manage to find a jury that convicts him. He has a pre-trial hearing in December and the trial gets underway in January.
So, he’s running for Lonoke County Sheriff!
“I’m the father who acted to protect his daughter when the system failed,” he said in his announcement. The video has racked up millions of views on X and Facebook this week.
It’s amazing that prosecutors decided to charge Aaron Spencer with a crime. Red states aren’t supposed to treat their citizens this way. Spencer now finds himself in the company of other American heroes who have been persecuted in blue states, such as Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny.
In 2008, a liberal US Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Louisiana that executing child molesters is a violation of the Eighth Amendment rule against cruel and unusual punishment. Like most liberal decisions, this is the exact opposite of how a majority of the public feels. Ask any parole officer and they’ll tell you the same thing: child molesters like Michael Fosler can never be rehabilitated. They remain a danger to children as long as they are alive and walking around.
In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for expanded capital punishment for child sex offenders. 14 states have now taken up legislation to execute child molesters.
Ironically, the Arkansas legislature passed Senate Bill 375 just six months after Aaron Spencer’s fatal confrontation with his daughter’s molester. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed it into law immediately, and it went into effect in August of this year. If the justice system had kept Fosler in jail after his first arrest, he might have eventually been executed for his crimes anyway.
It’s hard for normal people to believe that prosecutors even charged Aaron Spencer in this case. They’ll likely have trouble securing a guilty conviction in rural Lonoke County, which has a population of less than 75,000 people. Spencer shot an accused child molester who was driving around with his missing child in the middle of the night. There were no witnesses, so his attorney should put up a robust self-defense argument.
If Spencer is convicted of felony second degree murder in Arkansas, he wouldn’t be allowed to run for sheriff. However, if Governor Sanders (hint, hint) were to pardon Spencer after a conviction, he could run. It will be fascinating to watch this play out.
Spencer’s support on social media has been near universal. Almost everyone supports what he did and believes it was a righteous act. He just might end up being Lonoke County’s next sheriff.