No evidence Kurt Russell wrote social media post supporting police

Another bogus quote attributed to actor Kurt Russell is circulating online.

A Facebook post that features a photo of Russell says he made a lengthy statement in support of the police that lists examples of some of the heroic acts that the badge represents.

“I have always been a fan of Kurt Russell,” the user wrote. “He speaks From his heart and finds eloquent words to express what a lot of people are thinking….”

This is how the quote begins:

“Yes… let’s all join in the hatred of all police for the sins of a few. Let’s defund one of the most important public institutions in our countries history. Let’s have all badges removed and allow people to tend to their own safety and security. But before you do so, Let me tell you about the badge and the thousands of good men and women it represents.”

It goes on to list several heroic police acts, such as running “towards certain death as the Towers collapsed on 9-11” and “ran into the line of fire to save the people in the Pulse Night Club.”

But there’s no evidence Russell wrote it. 

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

We couldn’t find any official social media accounts or websites belonging to Russell in which he posted or released the statement, and he hasn’t made any recent public appearances.

The quote doesn’t appear to exist outside of unsourced social media posts. We could find no mention of the statement in any news reports, let alone that Russell said it.

Despite Russell’s photo in the post, and the user’s claim that he said it, the quote ends with “~unknown.” 

Indeed, earlier iterations of the quote on Facebook say it’s from an unknown writer.

Russell, who played a corrupt Los Angeles detective in the 2002 film “Dark Blue,” has been incorrectly credited for phony quotes before, most of them having to do with politics. A widely circulated photo in which he appears to be wearing a pro-Trump t-shirt was doctored.

But the actor doesn’t share much about his political beliefs, saying in a 2015 interview with the Daily Beast that he doesn’t like espousing his political views publicly.

In the same interview, Russell criticized liberals and conservatives and called himself a “hardcore libertarian.”

We rate this post False.

By

Samantha Putterman

Staff Writer

July 31, 2020

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• There’s no evidence Kurt Russell wrote this, and other iterations say the author is unknown.

Statement

Says actor Kurt Russell said this about the police.

Context

a Facebook post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Facebook posts

Statement Date

July 15, 2020