Supposed Sheriff’s Deputy That Went Viral After ‘Resigning’ Busted as a Likely Impostor
Richard Moorhead
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An anonymous ‘sheriff’s deputy’ that claimed to have resigned from his position as a law enforcement officer in protest of the death of George Floyd is considered by many to be an impostor.
@navyvetbolt gathered more than 100,000 retweets on Twitter on Monday with a picture of what appeared to be police gear, claiming he had just resigned from an unnamed law enforcement agency in protest of the killing of Floyd.
The viral tweet later reached the front page of Reddit, with the anonymous account pivoting swiftly into partisan anti-Trump and left-wing political commentary.
However, some were unconvinced that navyvetbolt is who he claims to be, pointing out that much of the gear he posted in his original tweet is commonly sold on ecommerce websites such as eBay and Alibaba. Most notably, the holster he uses for what is nominally his service pistol doesn’t resemble holsters commonly used by law enforcement agencies, more closely resembling a civilian holster.
Firearms enthusiast @LouisvilleGun uploaded a lengthy set of a arguments in an imgur detailing why @navyvetbolt is likely a law enforcement imposter, exposing the wide list of discrepancies surrounding his claims with the make and quality of the supposed police gear he posted on Twitter.
@navyvetbolt is yet to provide any solid evidence proving he’s a (now former) law enforcement agent, claiming to do so would somehow put his life or family at risk.
He posted a picture of a supposedly department-issued rifle that is identifiable in the photo as a Smith and Wesson M&P15.
That form of AR-style rifle is one of the more commonly owned and sold AR’s in the United States. It’s thought of by some as a more ‘affordable’ rifle, often retailing for prices around $600.
Navyvetbolt goes on to claim that the rifle has been converted into a fully automatic weapon.
It’s extremely dubious to imagine that a law enforcement agency would even issue Smith and Wesson M&P15’s to its personnel, considering that the rifle is considered to be more of an expressly civilian weapon. Sheriff’s Departments and police agencies can obtain fully automatic rifles from military-grade manufacturers legally; it would make no sense to convert a civilian AR-15 to fully automatic for law enforcement use. And it’s even more outlandish that whatever law enforcement agency navyvetbolt claims to have worked for would let him keep a fully automatic rifle owned by the agency after resigning in an act of political protest. Not to mention that such a transfer would place him in violation of the ATF’s tax stamp rules for the transfer of fully automatic firearms.
Almost certainly a poorly disguised hoaxster, unwilling to provide any real evidence of his claims of affiliation with a law enforcement agency, using a sheriff’s badge purchased on eBay or Alibaba in order to advance a left-wing political agenda.
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