Clay Higgins

Glen Clay Higgins, known as Clay Higgins and as the Cajun John Wayne (born August 1961), is law enforcement officer from St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, who gained national attention for his aggressive Crime Stoppers videos. He has been called "the most badass cop in America".

Some of his Crime Stoppers skits have been carried on NBC's The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon. Though he has been accused by the interest group, the American Civil Liberties Union, of bias against lawbreakers, whom Higgins has dubbed "animals," "thugs," and "heathens." With a "country bumpkin drill-sergeant persona," Higgins emphasizes that his focus is on criminals. One of the videos features an outraged Higgins threatening the burglar who broke into a popular restaurant in Opelousas. Clarence Lazard, an African-American Baptist pastor who supports Higgins' videos, describes Higgins as "a unique gentleman who's not scared to say what he thinks." Though he is often referred to as a Cajun, Higgins is actually of Irish descent.

Controversy over the videos led Higgins to resign as a captain under St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Joseph Guidroz (born April 1954), a Democrat. Higgins then became a deputy marshal for the city of Lafayette and conducts extensive lecturing on law and order issues.

Higgins is a Republican candidate for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district seat in the primary election scheduled on November 8, 2016, which coincides with the U.S. presidential election. The office which Higgins is seeking is held by Republican Charles Boustany, a retired physician from Lafayette, who is running instead for the United States Senate seat being vacated by another Republican, the retiring David Vitter. Higgins' principal opponents include Scott Angelle, one of five members of the elected Louisiana Public Service Commission, considered a Moderate Republican, and conservative Brett Geymann, a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lake Charles.

Higgins like Geymann espouses a conservative political stance in which he urges the public to:

set aside your differences, stand together as one nation under God and as one people beneath the glory of one flag, to stand as a nation reborn. ...[American is in] grave peril [from overseas and from] the elected and appointed elitist few who have seized power in Washington and squandered our wealth, mortgaged our children's futures and betrayed our trust.