Texas deputy fired after telling black woman to 'find a brick wall' and 'bang your head into it'

Maria Guajardo Maria Guajardo Photo: Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Texas deputy fired after telling black woman to 'find a brick wall' and 'bang your head into it' 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

When one Matagorda County Sheriff’s deputy got into a heated discussion on Facebook regarding the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri, he allegedly called a black woman “ignorant” and told her she should find a brick wall to bang her head against.

That deputy, Sgt. Robert Heckler, along with Bay City police officer Maria Guajardo, have since been terminated from their respective positions for their involvement in the Internet scuffle after that woman and two others filed complaints against the officers, the Victoria Advocate reported earlier this week.

Heckler allegedly said the woman, Tylyrial Smith-Harris, of Bay City, and two others made comments that he was racist because he supported the grand jury decision to not indict a Ferguson police officer in the shooting death of a black teenager earlier this year.

The Bay City Tribune reports that the Matagorda County deputy responded by saying “Your level of ignorance and lack of common sense is deafening. Please find a brick wall and do society a favor and bang your head into (it) repeatedly. I’ll insult you, judge you, call you what I want.”

The deputy allegedly went further, stating that the three women “are a disgrace to society, your race, your jobs, your country.”

Guajardo also chimed in with a meme that one of the women took as a threat, according to the Victoria newspaper.

Both Guajardo and Heckler were cleared of any wrongdoing, but Guajardo was later fired for insubordination; Heckler was fired for violating policies and core objectives.

Community members have rallied together in an effort to reinstate the two officers with the creation of a Facebook group, “Support The Force: Robert and Maria,” which has more than 220 members. Petitions for both officers’ reinstatement also have been created on change.org, Heckler’s petition garnering 100 supporters and Guajardo’s receiving 50 supporters.

Heckler’s mother-in-law, Patti Lyles Ward, told the Victoria Advocate Matagorda County sheriff Skipper Osborne was trying to sweep the controversy under the rug after protesters and a “self-described leader of the Black Panter Nation” were set to rally at the county’s courthouse steps.

“I think Skipper (Osborne, the sheriff) wanted it to go away, and in order for it to go away, he took the chicken route,” Ward told the Advocate.

Calls to the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office and the Bay City Police Department requesting comment were not immediately returned.

Last week, a school board member from Northeast Texas resigned after posting several KKK memes on his Facebook in response to the Ferguson grand jury decision.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite