Chris Pratt’s Solano Sheriff officer brother promoted far-right imagery, investigation shows
While the ‘Jurassic Park’ star has long faced questions about privately supporting conservative politics, his older brother has been promoting extremist Three Percenter imagery for years, a new report alleges.
Vallejo Times-Herald, by Martha Ross, February 10, 2021
But did the “Jurassic Park” star pay close attention to the way that Cully Pratt, the department’s former public information officer, used his personal social media platform and wood-carving business to seemingly promote the right-wing group, the Three Percenters?
According to an investigation by the independent news website Open Vallejo, Cully Pratt for years has promoted extremist imagery connected to the right-wing group on social media and in his wood carving.
The Three Percenters are a loose-knit coalition that, with the Oath Keepers, are part of the antigovernment militia movement whose followers express anti-government views and a willingness to defy the federal government, according to the Southern Poverty Law Project. At least one person with ties to the Three Percenters was charged in the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, where five people died, including one police officer. Other people with ties to the Three Percenters have been connected to bombings and kidnapping plots.
Open Vallejo investigative reporter Scott Morris also found that at least two other members of the Solano County Sheriff’s Office posted Three Percenter imagery on their public social media pages.
“Their friends and followers include staff at the sheriff’s office,” Open Vallejo reported. “While not all interacted with the deputies’ Three Percenter posts, (the deputies’) identity and stated views were clear.”
An Instagram post by Cully Pratt, for example, shows him displaying one of his wood carvings with the hashtag “#3percent.” This carving apparently was made for his colleague, Sgt. Roy Stockton, who was elected to the Vacaville City Council in November. Open Vallejo also said Stockton, a 15-year law enforcement veteran, has a side business selling items referencing far-right imagery, including Gadsden flags with coiled rattlesnakes, and other coiled snake figures.
As the news site reported, Cully Pratt’s gift to Stockton resembles a California flag, but instead of a bear, it features hooks to hold an AR-15 rifle above the words, “WILL NOT COMPLY.” The piece also shows 13 shotgun shells, arranged like the stars of the Betsy Ross flag and forming a circle around the Roman numeral III.
For the last few weeks I’ve been looking into the social posts of Solano County Sheriff’s deputies.
Several of them have shown open support for the Three Percenter movement, a far-right militia whose members were involved in the attack on the Capitol. ????
— Scott Morris (@OakMorr) February 5, 2021
Cully Pratt’s Instagram account, where he once boasted more than 29,000 followers. is no longer available. His #3percent reference stems from the dubious historical claim that only 3 percent of American colonists fought against the British during the War of Independence, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.
Open Vallejo said that Cully Pratt did not respond to a request for comment about his Three Percenter content. Solano County spokesperson Matthew Davis declined to comment on whether anyone in the county, including in the sheriff’s office, are active members of any anti-government militia.
When reached for a comment, Stockton told Open Vallejo that he “strongly condemned the violent and racist views of these extreme right, militia, and anti-government groups.”
He also said in an email: “I believe that law enforcement officers and other public officials cannot keep their oaths to uphold the Constitution if they are associated with any extremist or anti-government groups.”
For the last few weeks I’ve been looking into the social posts of Solano County Sheriff’s deputies.
Several of them have shown open support for the Three Percenter movement, a far-right militia whose members were involved in the attack on the Capitol. ????
— Scott Morris (@OakMorr) February 5, 2021
The news about Cully Pratt’s apparent affinity for far-right ideology comes after his younger brother has long faced questions about whether he privately holds conservative political views, including whether he voted for Donald Trump.
Such questions have persisted because Chris Pratt won’t comment on his politics, even as his famously political in-laws, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, expressed strong anti-Trump views.
Open Vallejo reported that the mega-movie star has promoted his older brother’s wood carving business to his 30 million Instagram followers and appears to share his brother’s fondness for patriotic imagery.
In 2017, Cully Pratt took a selfie with Chris, flashing one of the coiled snake figures sold by Stockton. Chris Pratt also appeared at a Solano County sheriff’s fundraiser — a screening of “Jurassic World” — wearing a hat with the 13 stars of the Betsy Ross flag.
In July 2019, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star drew criticism when he was photographed, walking with his wife, wearing a “Don’t Tread on Me” shirt. People said he was showcasing an image associated with groups such as the Tea Party and Second Amendment advocates, which express concern about government overreach. Others were more harsh in their criticism, accusing Pratt of wearing “a white supremacist dog whistle,”
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) July 15, 2019
Chris Pratt’s suspected politics and conservative religious beliefs have made him the red-hot focus of recurring debate about which movie star named Chris is Hollywood’s “worst Chris.” The debate heated up around the Nov. 3 presidential election with some of Pratt’s Marvel Cinematic Universe co-stars, including Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, rushing to defend his reputation as a “good” person who tries to stay out of politics.
As Chris Pratt has been in the hot seat, his less famous brother and others in the Solano County Sheriff’s office have largely escaped consequences for openly expressing affinity for a far-right group, Open Vallejo reported.
Instead, “they have risen in the ranks of the sheriff’s office and have been trusted with high-profile public assignments,” Open Vallejo said.
In addition to serving as the department’s office public information officer up until recently, Cully Pratt has been lauded in Solano County for his support of philanthropic causes. A glowing 2018 CBN profile said Cully Pratt was Army veteran who shares his brother’s charisma and “incredible” artistic talent for woodworking. The profile also said he worked previously as a police officer in Pittsburg and Rio Vista.
With Stockton, Cully Pratt has run the nonprofit Solano Family First Responders. Pratt also has been known for getting Bay Area law enforcement luminaries and other high-profile figures, such as as his movie star brother, to attend gala fundraisers for his favorite organizations.
In September 2018, Chris Pratt served as the auctioneer at a gala in Napa Valley to raise awareness and money for The Leaven, a Fairfield faith-based nonprofit that Cully Pratt is involved with.
As it happens, Chris Pratt’s Napa Valley getaway that September was mostly notable because of photos posted on social media that showed Katherine Schwarzenegger, who was then his girlfriend, hanging out with Cully Pratt. Fans took the get-together as a sign that the actor and Schwarzenegger were getting serious.