Worcester County’s Sheriff’s Office honors 13-year-old DJ Daniel

WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. – Today we bring to you a story that has taken hold of social media the past 3 weeks. You might remember 13-year-old DJ Daniel, who President Donald Trump made an honorary secret service agent in the State of the Union address. Now, that same brave young man has made connections to the Eastern Shore.

Overcoming Obstacles 

DJ Daniels has overcome many obstacles in life but dreams of being a police officer. Now, he’s turning the bullying he’s faced since that night into a positive situation, that has gained national recognition, including right here in Worcester County. His family says this situation has gone from bad to good, to bittersweet.

Miserable Memories

Single father Theodis Daniel Jr. has no tolerance for bullying. As a Military Brat, he began school in Korea and came to the U.S. when he was just 7 years old. He was called names, had his hair pulled, and even assaulted. As an adult, he has put most of that behind him but seeing a clip of his son being bullied go viral, brought back that same pain.

“Bullying a 13-year-old really burns me up, and he’s been fighting and battling for his live since he was 6 years old, 13 brain surgeries… Any parent that you sit there, and you got a kid fighting for his life, and I’ve been through all these sleepless nights and worrying and stressing and everything else and wondering if I’m going to wake up one morning, and he’s not going to wake up and you got the nerve to talk about my son.”

Honoring DJ Daniel 

Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel has a rare form of cancer, that has relapsed, and metastasized. He has had 13 surgeries- one for every year of his, permanent scaring and a form of alopecia. Recently he found out he has new tumors, but somehow, he remains positive.

The Brookshire Police Department in Texas was the first to honor him, others followed. Then they received a call from the White House, little did they know what was in store.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “And tonight, DJ we’re going to do you the biggest honor of them all, I am asking our New Secret Service Director Sean Curran to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.”

DJ, who has a great sense of humor, was thrilled. “It made me feel great, but kind of bad, because I almost broke his shoulder. He said I need to lay off the Honey Buns.”

Bipartisan Backlash 

Unfortunately, their celebrations came to a screeching halt as reporters, representatives, and radio host made disparaging comments implying DJ was a political pun, a racial token for Republicans, some making offensive remarks about his appearance and hair.

People not Plants

Theodis, a former Navy man says DJ was bullied once by his peers, now, the adults are doing it all over again. “He’s not a plant, I’m not a plant, we weren’t asked to do anything except just to be personal guest…We didn’t know that they were going to turn it into a political thing on their end, the other sides end. That’s their agenda, so if anything, they planted themselves on the other side of the room.”

Eastern Shore Support

That’s why when Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli heard DJ’s story, he made DJ an honorary deputy in his department. “At that moment when he was risen up by his father, he captured the hearts of our profession, and he’s been recognized by over 500 law enforcement agencies and my office, we’re planning on doing something very special.”

He goes on to say, “This was a moment, where the entire nation could’ve just come together and captured that moment with this little boy and just stood in solidarity… When you can’t stand in solidarity with a child that has cancer, then people need to look in the Mirror.”

Sheriff Crisafulli didn’t leave out that he’s disgusted by the backlash his family has faced. “I don’t care what party you’re affiliated with; I don’t care where you’re from, this was a pure moment of humanity- that’s what this was. And we all needed to stand for that child, and not everyone did.

DJ has all those who have something negative to say. “Some people, just don’t like to be nice… If you aren’t going to say something nice then shut yo’ mouth.” Theodis overall fed-up, “Ya’ll stole my moment, y’all stole all of our moments, and we want it back. There’s a time and place for everything but that just wasn’t the time for it.”

Asking for Apologies 

The Worcester County Sherrif’s Office plans to send DJ a special custom gift in the near future, and Theodis, well he thanks President Trump and all their supporters. However, he is calling for apologies across the board.

He’s gotten one from the girl who posted the initial viral bullying video, but he’s demanding one from every reporter, representative, and or radio host who’s had something negative to say, so he won’t have to take legal action.

DJ is on Facebook if you would lie to reach out and uplift his spirits in any way. His family says they will continue to stay positive.