Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers has posted a video on the immensely popular short-video social media site Tik Tok, and that video has amused and angered many of those who are hoping for Rogers’ defeat in the election this November.

The video, which is just over one minute long, shows Rogers – known for his cowboy hats and colorful clothing choices – walking confidently through doors where he emerges in a new outfit each time. In the first scene, he gets into a black SUV and comes out the door on the other side in a different uniform. The video, which uses MTV-like quick-cut special effects, is set to the music of the headbanger classic “Back in Black” by AC/DC.

Some of the lyrics to the song in the video are: “Yes, I’m let loose, from the noose, that’s kept me hanging about. I’ve been looking at the sky, ’cause it’s gettin’ me high. Forget the hearse, ’cause I never die. I got nine lives, cat’s eyes. Abusin’ every one of them and running wild… Yes, I’m back in black.”

At the end of the video, the music stops abruptly and Rogers asks, “Tik Tok, are you ready for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office?”

For many, it’s simply a fun and entertaining way to announce the Sheriff’s Department’s plans to start using the social media platform.

But Rogers, a Democrat, is facing Republican challenger Phil Byrd in November and, as soon as the video came out, Byrd and his supporters were calling attention to it and heaping criticism on it.

The Sheriff’s Department has turned off comments for the video on Tik Tok, but it is being shared on Facebook, where Rogers’ critics are posting their thoughts.

“So embarrassing to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department employees,” one critic wrote.

Another posted, “I mean people do you really want a leader for the men and women protecting us like this? Never more important than now to vote for Phil Byrd for Sheriff!”

Other critics called the video “unfortunate,” and “cringeworthy,” while one posted that it was a poor use of taxpayer money.

Former Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes, who lost to Rogers in the election four years ago, said he was shocked and saddened when he saw the Tik Tok video. Barnes said it’s a prime example of one of his main criticisms of Rogers.

“He likes to pretend to be a cowboy, while what he should be doing, is actually be a sheriff,” Barnes said.

Barnes said that, when he left office four years ago, he left three things for Rogers.

“I left him a bible, a copy of the constitution, and a note that said ‘Esse Quam Videri.’” That’s the Latin motto for the State of North Carolina which means, “To be rather than to seem.”

Barnes said Rogers apparently never took the message to heart.

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