In a Truth Social post, the president shared images of police patches that meld the Marvel Comics vigilante character with Trump himself.
Last night, the president shared images on Truth Social of two patches, reportedly from the New Jersey Department of Corrections and the PBA Local 106, representing the police officers of Point Pleasant Beach in Ocean County, N.J., featuring Trump-style hair atop the distinctive skull symbol from Marvel Comics’ the Punisher.
Police forces using the symbol of the Punisher have been a recurring controversy, for reasons that are self-evident to anyone familiar with the comics or the various film and television versions. The character, Frank Castle, is clearly and explicitly an antihero, a vigilante who operates outside of the law and quite frequently just straight-up murders his foes. A troubled military veteran whose family was killed by the mob for witnessing a murder, Castle fights a brutal, ruthless, often lethal war of vengeance against all sorts of criminals.
It’s one thing for the general public to enjoy this or the Death Wish films or other vigilante stories as a dark escapist fantasy. But it’s another thing to see those who take an oath to uphold the law enthusiastically adopt the image of a character who rejects the criminal justice system and its laws protecting the rights of the accused.
The creator of the Punisher, Gerry Conway, argued that police forces’ adoption of his symbol is an indication that they don’t understand what the character represents, or what law enforcement’s role in society is, either.
The vigilante anti-hero is fundamentally a critique of the justice system, an example of social failure, so when cops put Punisher skulls on their cars or members of the military wear Punisher skull patches, they’re basically sides with an enemy of the system. They are embracing an outlaw mentality. Whether you think the Punisher is justified or not, whether you admire his code of ethics, he is an outlaw. He is a criminal. Police should not be embracing a criminal as their symbol.
Marvel even did a storyline where the character himself argues to some policemen that they, who are supposed to stand for the rule of law and the right to a fair trial, should not be adopting his symbol or his methods.
“You guys need a role model? His name is Captain America, and he’d be happy to have you,” Castle declares.
I realize “president shares crazy thing on Truth Social” isn’t really big news anymore, but it does seem like one more illustration that the man atop the executive branch of the U.S. government doesn’t understand what law enforcement is supposed to stand for.