Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign pivoted to crime on Monday, attempting to link a fatal shooting at a Marriott hotel in New York to his opponent Sen. Raphael Warnock’s policies on crime.
Roy Jonhson Jr., a known fugitive, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Paul Kutz, a Long Island father who was struck by stray bullets in a hotel lobby after a fight allegedly broke out between Johnson and Devin Taylor.
Authorities said the men tried to shoot one another but that Kutz, a 53-year-old father of three, was hit instead.
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Johnson was wanted on gun and drug charges in Fulton County, Georgia, and is a suspect in an Aug. 9 gang-related homicide.
He had been on the lam after he skipped a court appearance on felony gun and cocaine-dealing charges. His arrest warrant was put into a national database in July.
Walker’s campaign has sought to link Johnson’s alleged criminal activity to Warnock.
“Raphael Warnock continues to choose soft-on-crime policies over the safety of Georgians, putting their lives in danger,” Walker’s campaign spokesman, Will Kiley, said in a press release Monday. “At every turn, Raphael Warnock has done more to protect violent criminals than he has done to protect Georgia citizens. Warnock has voted against increasing funding for prosecutors to ensure violent criminals are properly detained pretrial and to empower law enforcement. A wanted fugitive was allowed to walk free in Fulton County after his arrest, and as a result, innocent lives were lost. Enough is enough.”
In a television ad running across the state, Walker accuses Warnock of wanting to “defund the police” and “put criminals ahead of victims.” He adds, “Raphael Warnock called police thugs, then cut their funding. Now, he wants to end cash bail, putting criminals back out on the street. I’m Herschel Walker. I approved this message because stopping crime starts by keeping bad guys in jail.”
Calls to Warnock’s campaign for comment were not returned, but a fact sheet from the senator released earlier this year claims the sitting senator has “pushed to strengthen federal funding for local police departments to hire officers for community policing and other law enforcement programs.” He has also “advocated for gun safety legislation to expand background checks and make sure guns aren’t ending up in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.”
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Walker, a former football star, is challenging Warnock for the U.S. Senate seat the reverend has held since Jan. 20, 2021. The outcome of the Georgia race could determine which political party takes control of the Senate next year.
Walker, who is dealing with the fallout from multiple controversies last week over abortion, will debate Warnock in Savannah Friday night.
