New Trainer for Joe Arpaio Posse: Steven Seagal

When "America's Toughest Sheriff" needs someone to train his "posse," who does he turn to? Steven Seagal, apparently. The aging action star was in Maricopa County over the weekend to train Sheriff Joe Arpaio's armed volunteers on how to handle a school shooting. Arpaio already has these posses patrolling local schools, a plan that's not universally adored. Saturday's training session involved a simulated school shooting at a vacant school; 25 teen volunteers took part while posse members practiced how to deal with multiple shooters. ABC News notes that some posse members have criminal records ranging from assault to sex crimes against children.

Right now, the posses stay around the perimeter of the schools, but an Arpaio rep says they'll be authorized to enter if a real emergency arises. Seagal, a friend of Arpaio's and already a member of one of his posses, led other training that included hand-to-hand combat and the use of semi-automatic rifles using fake bullets. Of course, the training has quite a few opponents, and Seagal had words for them, ABC News reports. “Anybody who has criticized me or the sheriff for standing up to help the children, in my opinion, is an embarrassment to the human race," he said. (More Steven Seagal stories.)