PolitiFact: World Economic Forum does not have its own police force

Monique Curet, PolitiFact.com
·2 min read
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Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, smiles during a press conference on the pending lawsuit against the Scottsdale Unified School District announced outside the Arizona Superior Court building in Phoenix on May 5, 2022.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, smiles during a press conference on the pending lawsuit against the Scottsdale Unified School District announced outside the Arizona Superior Court building in Phoenix on May 5, 2022.

Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA: The World Economic Forum has its own police force.

PolitiFact's ruling: False

Here's why: Social media users shared photos of a badge worn by police at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, to make unfounded claims about the organization.

One example is a May 23 tweet by Charlie Kirk suggesting the World Economic Forum has its own police force. Kirk, founder and president of conservative group Turning Point USA, tweeted a photo of a badge with the words "World Economic Forum police" on it.

"Why does the World Economic Forum have their own police force?" Kirk asked in his tweet.

That premise is wrong.

"The WEF organization does not have a police force," said Roman Rüegg, a spokesperson for police from the Grisons canton, or district, where the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering is held.

Police in the district are identified by official uniforms, ID cards and police patches, Rüegg said. The badge pictured in the tweet was created by emergency services personnel as a way of expressing "team spirit," Rüegg said. It debuted in 2006 and is redesigned every year.

We reached out to Kirk for comment but did not receive a reply.

Similar claims were tweeted by others, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

The World Economic Forum is a common target of conspiracy theorists. One of its previous summit themes, called "The Great Reset," in recent years prompted hundreds of thousands of posts on social media claiming that "the global elite were planning to use the coronavirus to bring about total economic collapse," CNBC reported.

The World Economic Forum does not have its own police force, and we rate those claims False.

Our Sources

  • CNBC, "How Davos became a target for conspiracy theorists and anarchists," May 23, 2022

  • Email interview, Roman Rüegg, spokesperson, cantonal police of Grisons, June 2, 2022

  • PolitiFact, "Charlie Kirk," accessed June 2, 2022

  • Twitter post, May 23, 2022

  • Twitter post, May 23, 2022

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Fact-check: Does the World Economic Forum have its own police force?