(FiveNation.com)- In a 2019 speech, Herschel Walker claimed that he once chased down a man with the intention of killing him but was deterred by the man’s “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker.
The remarks were delivered in September 2019 at a speech to soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington, by the Republican candidate for the Georgia Senate seat trying to replace freshman Sen. Raphael Warnock (D).
He took out his pistol and thought, “I will murder him.”
He said he got in his car and headed off on 183. And he still can recall the voices. “People always treat you with disdain, Herschel.”
Then there was another voice, he said.
“Your parents did not raise you that way, Herschel.”
“Yes, they did.”
“No, they didn’t.”
He believed he was going insane. He began to pray as he neared the location of his rendezvous. He said, “Lord, I need your assistance right now.”
Walker said that when he approached the man’s truck while holding his rifle in his hand, he noticed a bumper sticker that read, “Honk if you love Jesus.”
That is what calmed him down, he said.
Walker has talked about his purported connections to law enforcement to defend his firearm use, most notably in an incident in 2001 where he chased a man who was late with a car delivery.
At a 2013 U.S. Army suicide prevention program, he said, “I placed this pistol in my holster, and I said, “I’m going to murder this person.”
Walker claims that experience motivated him to seek mental health care.
A Walker campaign representative has stated that Walker spent a week at Quantico, but Walker is not an FBI agent because becoming one would require at least a bachelor’s degree. Walker left UGA before completing his degree.
When asked for clarification, the Walker campaign sent Associated Press articles from 1989, when Walker was retiring from professional football. He claimed to have spent a week at an FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia.
The AP quoted him as saying that they had an obstacle course, and you shot at targets to defend your companion as you moved up the course.
“I enjoyed myself,” Walker said.
