>
Georgia Senate hopeful Herschel Walker was reprimanded during a debate Friday night for putting out a “police badge” in response to an attack on his previous false claims that he was with law enforcement – he insisted that he was “with a lot of police officers working together’.
Walker, 60, has claimed to be an FBI agent, a “certified peace officer” and a member of the Cobb County Police Department.
His opponent Raphael Warnock said he “never pretended to be a police officer, and I never threatened a gunfight with the police.”
In September 2001, the former NFL player threatened a gunfight with officers responding to a domestic disturbance at his Texas home, according to a police report.
Walker told Warnock on Friday: “I have to respond to that.
‘And you know what’s so funny? I’m. Work with a lot of police officers.’
Herschel Walker, 60, was pictured Friday night holding up his ‘police badge’ during the debate
Walker responded to his opponent, Raphael Warnock, who made fun of his claims to be with law enforcement
Walker has repeatedly claimed to be with law enforcement and was reprimanded Friday for waving the gag
He then pulled what looked like a fake police badge from the pocket of his jacket — a reprimand from the moderator, who said it was against the rules to bring props to the debate.
Walker’s spokesperson earlier this summer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionunearthing multiple examples of Walker claiming to be a member of law enforcement, being an honorary deputy in Cobb County, along with three other unspecified Georgia counties.
The Cobb County Police Department told the paper there was no record of involvement with Walker.
The Cobb Sheriff’s Office could not say whether he was an honorary deputy.
J. Tom Morgan, the former DeKalb County district attorney, said the badge — even if it was handed to Walker — was worthless.
“It gives you absolutely no law enforcement powers,” he said. “It’s like a junior ranger badge.”
Morgan said many communities in Georgia stopped handing these out for fear they could be used to impersonate a police officer, which is a crime.
Walker is pictured in September 2021, at a meeting in Perry, Georgia
Walker is pictured in September 2019 speaking at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State
Walker told the crowd, ‘I worked for law enforcement, didn’t you know? I spent time at Quantico at the FBI training school. Didn’t you all know I was a cop?’
Walker has claimed to work in law enforcement for over 20 years.
In 2000, he told the Irving, Texas Police Department that he was “a certified peace officer,” according to a police report obtained by the newspaper.
In 2013, at an army suicide prevention event, he told that in 2001 he was chasing a man who was late in delivering a car.
“I worked in the police force, so I had a gun,” Walker said.
“I put this gun in my holster and said, ‘I’m going to kill this guy.’
The paper reported that in 2017 he stated, “I work with the Cobb County Police Department and have been in criminal justice all my life.”
And in September 2019, he went on to take the stage at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State to tell an auditorium of soldiers in combat costume, ‘I worked for law enforcement, didn’t you know that too?
“I spent time with Quantico at the FBI training school. Didn’t you all know I was a cop?’
Pressed by the paper to explain his claim, Walker’s spokesman said in June that he once attended a training camp in 1989, when he retired from professional sport.
“They had an obstacle course and you shoot targets to protect your partner as you progress down the course,” he told the AP at the time.
‘I had fun. There were about 200 recruits there.’