Outline:
A Former Navy SEAL’s Journey into Politics
Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper and founder of an organization dedicated to combating human trafficking, made a visit to the Alabama Republican headquarters in Hoover on Thursday. There, he submitted his qualification papers to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Tommy Tuberville.
As of Thursday, Hudson became the fourth Republican candidate to file for the Senate seat, joining Attorney General Steve Marshall, Rodney Walker, and Dale Shelton Deas Jr. U.S. Rep. Barry Moore has also announced his intention to run for the same position.
Hudson is the CEO of Covenant Rescue Group, a non-profit organization based in Gardendale. “Covenant Rescue Group is a nonprofit that my wife and I started in 2018,” Hudson explained in an interview with Alabama Media Group. “We go in and train local law enforcement agencies on how to proactively go after individuals who are buying and selling kids.”
Currently serving as a deputy for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Hudson primarily works on the SWAT team and handles warrant service and child exploitation cases. Since 2019, he has trained hundreds of law enforcement officers from over 100 different agencies on how to catch human traffickers.
“We train local agencies all over the nation on how to best proactively go after individuals who are buying and selling kids,” Hudson said. “Once we train that agency, we set up a live operation with that agency.”
Locally, this includes training sessions with the Irondale Police Department last year on setting up internet stings. “Just recently we did one with Irondale, and we trained them, we set up a live operation,” Hudson said. “They made seven arrests of individuals who were showing up to buy or sell kids in their jurisdiction. And of those seven individuals, they found two with live victims on their phone.”
Most child trafficking in the United States occurs through the internet and online gaming, targeting children with access to the digital world, according to Hudson. “It happens all over,” he said.
The organization conducts one to two trainings a month across the U.S., with current efforts in Texas involving a team of experts. “Our digital footprint is so large and that’s where kids are the most at risk,” Hudson added. “The days of a guy showing up in a free candy van and stealing your kid off the street corner are gone. Not saying that doesn’t happen, but those days are pretty much over.”
Pedophiles now contact children through social media, cell phones, emails, Snapchat, or Roblox, luring them out of their homes. “And so that’s what we train law enforcement agencies on how to actually proactively go after that,” Hudson said. “So Ironale police then can say, we want to look at the social media activity of residents of Irondale.”
Hudson teaches law enforcement to set up internet decoys that flush out pedophiles. “The Supreme Court has upheld that providing opportunity is not baiting,” he said. “It’s not entrapment. These individuals are looking to do this with a child and it’s either going to be your 14-year-old or your 13-year-old or your 12-year-old or it’s going to be one of our decoys. Any police department could set up a decoy and see if bad actors come.”
If someone shows up looking to pay for sex with a minor, the agency makes an arrest. “You are going after individuals who are in your town or within normally about a one-hour distance of certain areas,” Hudson said. “Our goal is to train the local agency how to best do this so they make a solid case on the front end for a probable cause arrest, and that case holds tight all the way through the prosecution and ultimately conviction of the individual that showed up.”
“Our goal was to teach them how to do it so that they can continue doing this in their community.”
In 2024, Hudson worked with the Huntsville Police Department on training to set up a sting. “We did a training for Huntsville, and their human trafficking task force made 11 arrests and one rescue one year ago, exactly, in January 2025,” Hudson said. “Since then, Huntsville has run operations on their own, and I don’t know how many operations they’ve run, but it’s been quite a few. They’ve made over 30 arrests. There’s been over 50 charges and they’ve made seven rescues based on those arrests, all related to human trafficking.”
Hudson and his wife, Lauren, have three daughters, ages 10, 7, and 4. Together, they co-founded Covenant Rescue Group. Hudson said he is running for the Senate to protect families like his own on issues including affordability.
“The position of U.S. senator is a position of service,” he said. “I’m a warrior who puts the mission first. My agenda is simple. Lower the cost of living.”
“I promise to fight Washington policies that drive prices up on healthcare, groceries, housing, energy, so that you can keep your hard-earned money here in the state of Alabama.”