Nathan News

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate in the pivotal Georgia Senate race, earned a few scratches on the head — and a reprimand from a debate moderator — when he held up an honorary sheriff’s badge Friday while debating his Democratic opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock.

In a moment that ricocheted online, Mr. Walker, a football legend endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, was responding to Mr. Warnock’s accusations that he had misrepresented himself as a law enforcement officer. order and had previously threatened to commit acts of violence.

But Mr Walker’s display of the honorary badge, recognition not unusual for celebrities, has brought new scrutiny to his credentials and the loosely defined relationships that can emerge between law enforcement and famous people.

The moment came after Mr Warnock made statements about Mr Walker’s work history, saying Mr Walker ‘had a problem with the truth’.

‘One thing I didn’t do – I never pretended to be a police officer and never threatened a shootout with the police,’ Mr Warnock said, referring to controversies in M’s past. Walker. At the time, Mr Walker flashed the badge in response, saying he had ‘worked with many police officers’.

The badge was given to him in recognition of the community service work he had done with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Department, according to his campaign spokesperson, Will Kiley. Mr. Walker also has an honorary pin from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department in eastern Georgia, which includes his hometown of Wrightsville. Representatives from sheriff’s departments in both counties were unavailable for comment.

One of the debate moderators, WSAV anchor Tina Tyus-Shaw, berated Mr Walker after he held up the badge and asked him to put it away. She said he was “well aware” of the rules of debate against using props on stage.

“It’s not a prop,” Mr Walker replied. “It’s real.” However, the badge he presented on the debate stage was not an authentic badge worn by trained sheriffs, but an honorary badge often given to sports or entertainment celebrities. (It seems likely that Mr. Walker and the moderator attached different meanings to the idea of ​​a prop. She was apparently saying that objects used for demonstrations were not permitted; she was not referring to the validity of the badge.)

It is not uncommon for athletes to be recognized by law enforcement. In 2021, Cobb County named Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins special deputy.

When Mr. Wilkins was sworn in, the sheriff’s spokeswoman told the Cobb County Courier that Mr. Wilkins did not have the same authority as a regular sheriff’s deputy to carry a gun and arrest people. She described her role as liaison and partner.

In 2021, the Henry County, Georgia Sheriff’s Office, which is about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta, gave NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal the as Director of Community Relations.

Neil Warren, who was Cobb County Sheriff when he appointed Mr. Walker Honorary Deputy Sheriff, endorsed his Senate candidacy in July.

In a statement at the time, Mr. Warren said Mr. Walker “has partnered with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office for over 15 years” and “led leadership trainings, mental health advocacy, encouraged countless officers and was always there to lend a hand whenever we needed him.

But many others express significant skepticism about the kind of honorary recognition afforded by law enforcement.

“Georgia sheriffs were seriously handing out these badges like candy in a candy dish,” said J. Tom Morgan, a former DeKalb County, Georgia, district attorney who was elected as a Democrat, on Saturday. “This badge does not give you any law enforcement powers. He does not have the power to write a ticket.

Mr Morgan, who is now a professor at Western Carolina University, said the badges have become so widely abused that the Georgia Sheriffs Association has reduced the practice of handing them out.

“What would happen is someone would get pulled over for speeding and pull out one of these badges,” he said. “And there were people accused of impersonating a police officer.”

J. Terry Norris, executive director of the Georgia Sheriffs Association, said in an email Saturday that honorary titles are not regulated by state law and offered at the whim of law enforcement officials.

“There is no arrest authority associated with honorary titles,” Mr. Norris said.

Mr. Walker has already exaggerated his work in the field of law enforcement. In 2019, he told soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that he was a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, which was untrue. He also repeatedly stated in election campaign speeches that he worked as a law enforcement officer, but he did not.

In Georgia, the role of sheriff is an elected partisan office, and there may be awards for donors and recipients of honor badges.

According to the National Sheriffs’ Association, there are no formal guidelines stipulating the use and appearance of honor badges – and what distinguishes them from the real ones.

“It should be understood that an honorary badge is for the display of the trophy,” Pat Royal, spokesman for the National Sheriffs’ Association, said in an email on Saturday. Mr. Royal clarified that he was referring to badges of honor in general, not those of Mr. Walker.

Mr Walker’s performance during the debate sparked a wave of memes and widespread derision online.

“In fairness to Herschel Walker”, George Takei, the actor known for his role in “Star Trek”, tweeted on Friday nights, “I sometimes pull out my Star Fleet badge to go through security at Star Trek conferences.”

Erick Erickson, a conservative commentator, defended Mr Walker.

“He was named an honorary deputy sheriff in Cobb County, Georgia, and spent 15 years assisting that department and talking to deputies about how to handle mental health situations,” Erickson said Friday. evening. Twitter. “But I know facts don’t matter on Twitter.”

The image of Mr Walker waving his badge during the debate brought to mind another celebrity with a fondness for badges: Elvis Presley. During a 1970 meeting with President Richard M. Nixon, King requested a badge from the Federal Narcotics Agency. Mr Presley’s widow, Priscilla Presley, spoke of the badge’s appeal in her memoir, ‘Elvis and Me’.

“The Narc badge represented a kind of ultimate power to him,” Ms Presley wrote.