With the wrong mugshot on social media, Scott Pruit is now one of the internet’s most despised lawmen, the poor guy just trying to put his best face forward in a viral photo.
See, in addition to being the sheriff of Aspen County in Colorado, he was also appearing on people’s Facebook pages Tuesday, for what seems to be an impromptu photo-shoot for photos taken in front of a tree. (Everyone agrees that to be admiring a tree is particularly quaint, at least in these parts.)
The Photoshopped result, however, is a Photoshopped image of the sheriff, presumably celebrating the birth of Grinch-adjacent holiday, Christmastime, in his office, along with a berry nose, an overly serious expression and a snub-nosed grin in place of the sheriff’s signature husky growl.
Wade Stem of the Denver Police Department tweeted about the photoshopped picture to his 9,000 followers on Tuesday. The nearly two-minute video shows Stem imitating the sheriff’s face in more than 100 different positions, with the help of Denver Police’s Heart & Night (H&N) Vigil.
Scott Pruit (@SheriffScottPruit) Deputy Sheriff Maranda Wibrodski took the time to create this special HOLIDAY image for my Sheriff’s Office. She asked if we could put a Christmas tree up to celebrate with the community, and we just took her request on FLEX.
Pruit confirmed that the fake image was created by his deputy sheriff.
“She took the time to create this special HOLIDAY image for my Sheriff’s Office,” Pruit tweeted. “She asked if we could put a Christmas tree up to celebrate with the community, and we just took her request on FLEX.”
He added that the photograph was taken “a long time ago” and was “not anything I asked”.
Aspensoperaticcap (@Aspensoperaticcap) I guess I’m ruining this as a soon-to-be law enforcement officer, but look at the Deputy Sheriff and Sheriff picture.
Aspensoperaticcap (@Aspensoperaticcap) Hahahaha that’s on social media today, though. Posted by Scott Pruit (@SheriffScottPruit) 7/12/21
The message was widely shared, creating a host of memes and Photoshops, with H&N’s social team directing their users to numerous other lighthearted photos of the sheriff.
The mistaken photo has spread across the internet, despite the sheriff&aposs official statement attempting to be light-hearted. But that hasn&aposs not stopped the widespread online mockery. One Twitter user pointed out that Stem&aposs just wanted to be Pruit&aposs coffee date, and published a photo of the deputy&aposs autoerotic asphyxiation experience.