FBI Director Kash Patel is handing out a challenge coin that’s part action movie, part self-branding—featuring guns and his own name front and center.
“The challenge coins being handed out by @FBIDirectorKash. Seems someone put a lot of thought into this,” posted MSNBC correspondent Ken Dilanian on X, along with a photo of the coin.
The photo of the coin shows that it is shaped like the Marvel Punisher skull symbol. The back flaunts a Tommy gun alongside Patel’s full name, title, logo, signature, and the number 9—marking him as the FBI’s ninth director. The front simply reads “K$H.”
“Looks like a nerd stuck forever in puberty designed a challenge coin while being on 15 cans of Monster,” one user commented on the design.
Others quickly pointed out that the Punisher symbol might not be the best choice for an FBI director.
“The Punisher is a symbol of “law and order” failing. It has very little business in the office of the FBI Director," one user posted.
The use of the Punisher logo by law enforcement and the military has drawn criticism from the character’s creator, Gerry Conway, who told Forbes: “It always struck me as stupid and ironic that members of the police are embracing what is fundamentally an outlaw symbol.”
In response to police wearing the symbol at Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Conway launched an initiative called Skulls for Justice, selling T-shirts featuring artwork by people of color that incorporated the skull alongside Black Lives Matter themes.
“This character and symbol was never intended as a symbol of oppression. This is a symbol of a systematic failure of equal justice. It’s time to claim this symbol for the cause of equal justice and Black Lives Matter,” Conway wrote about the initiative.
According to the Department of Defense, challenge coins have been a military tradition in the U.S. for over a century, and are meant to “reward hard work and excellence.”
In 2018, a coin given by President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sparked ridicule, with some suggesting that the depiction of Kim Jong-un’s double chin was deliberately unflattering.
Patel is facing similar ridicule over his coin’s adolescent style.
“I bet this hits so hard if you haven’t gone through puberty yet,” one user posted on X.
“The Director of the FBI is a literal twelve year old,” another user commented.
The coin isn’t Patel’s first questionable gift.
In July, the FBI director gifted 3D-printed guns to New Zealand security officials, only for them to be destroyed as they are illegal under local law.
