Tough talkin' 'Cajun John Wayne' resigns from St. Landry Sheriff's Office

OPELOUSAS – The charismatic sheriff captain who put St. Landry Parish on the international map with his viral videos, resigned from the Sheriff’s Office Monday.

According to a KATC-TV report, Clay Higgins made the announcement Monday morning on the steps of the St. Landry Parish Courthouse.

Higgins says he was not forced to resign, but he felt he needed to turn in his badge.

"I will not kneel to violent street gangs. I will not kneel to murderers or the parents that raised them. I will not kneel to a discredited, wanna-be, black activist that doesn't really have the best interest of his people in mind," says Higgins.

Higgins said he loves Sheriff Bobby Guidroz but he can't abide by his current orders.

"I would die rather than sacrifice my principles," Higgins says. "I would leave my wife without a husband, my children without a daddy, rather than kneel to the very forces of evil that I have so long stood against."

The announcement comes just a week after Higgins was told to turn down the tough talk in his viral videos.

Most recently, Higgins teamed up with other Lafayette-area authorities to send a message to suspected gang members. In a report, Higgins called the suspects animals and listed each suspect by name and showed their pictures.

"You will be hunted. You will be tracked," Higgins said in a frustrated manner.

The comments have irked members of the African American community who said the segment was "racially tainted" in an interview with the Louisiana Radio Network.

The sheriff of St. Landry Parish counters, though, the suspects are dangerous members of a gang that have been causing alarm for a while. He warned the suspects that they're wanted, and they will be arrested. Although, he acknowledged he will have a discussion with the popular spokesperson some have called the "Cajun John Wayne."

"He does a great job here and I'm proud of him... there are some things that I'm going to guide him in to not saying," Sheriff Bobby Guidroz told the radio network.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WBRZ News 2 online and on Facebook and Twitter for updates as more information becomes available.