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Gary Faulkner, Colorado’s own Osama bin Laden hunter, already owns a few brag-worthy anti-terrorism items, like night-vision equipment, a pistol, and the kick-butt sword he was carrying until he was arrested in the woods of northern Pakistan, detained, and sent home to the U.S.
What Faulkner didn’t have—until now, at least—was an incredibly intricate, Renaissance-style painting of the al-Qaida leader in the throes of death.
Jerry Cool, an artist from Muncie, Indiana, has presented Faulkner with a painting called “A Renaissance Dream of 9-11: The Killing of Osama bin Laden,” reports Indiana’s Star-Press.
Cool says he was “shocked” when he saw Faulkner last month on the Late Show with David Letterman. Faulkner looked like a man Cool had seen in a dream, which inspired him to paint Faulkner vanquishing bin Laden. The man had “gray hair and a dark beard”—just like Faulkner.
Cool, convinced Faulkner is no joke, entertained Faulkner in his basement this week, presenting him with the painting. As Faulkner perused its heroic depiction of a monumental battle for the soul of humanity, he pointed out, “I had these visions myself. When I saw it, I knew it instantly. I told my brother, ‘I know this place.'”
Faulkner says he will take Cool’s painting home and display it on the wall of his living room.