Photo by Steven Hsieh, Meme by Anson Stevens-Bollen
The Santa Fe Police Department'sinternal affairs unit on Monday opened an investigation of the local policeunion president for incendiary posts shared on his Facebook page, includingmemes disparaging Muslims, African Americans and the transgender community.
The investigation comes after SFR emailed Police Chief Patrick Gallagher sevenscreenshots taken from Sgt. Troy Baker's Facebook page, representing just asmall sample of questionable posts shared by the officer over several years. Baker has not been placed on leave.
Here's one of the images we emailed to Gallagher, followed by Baker'sexplanation to us, which he gave via phone:
Baker's view: "That is a joke and taken as such. We don't need to be runningover people intentionally, but people shouldn't be blocking roadways either."
Here’s another:
Baker's explanation: "Your gender is what you're born with. You can't change it justbecause you say you are what you say. By that logic, I am royalty, right?Because I say I am. And I'm black because that's what I am."
Here’s one more:
Baker's view: "I don't have anti-Muslim views. I have anti-radical Islamviews. I have friends that are Muslim. It's not against a religion. It'sagainst radical Muslims. The people in that photo are from ISIS."
(Scroll down for more examples of Baker's Facebook posts.)
The Santa Fe Police Department does not have a social media policy, but thedepartment personnel code does prohibit "conduct unbecoming of an officer."
When asked whether Baker's posts reflect broader positions of the policedepartment, Gallagher tells SFR, "Emphatically, no." Headds: "Posts such as this have the potential to makeofficers' jobs more difficult by eroding police-community relationships."
Baker says personal views expressed on his Facebook post do not affect hison-duty behavior. "I'm not bringing it to work," he tells SFR. "You find oneperson I am not giving appropriate community service to due to their gender,race or ethnicity. Find one."
Baker briefly lost his job after a 2010 incident in which a man claimed he and four other officers used excessive force when arresting him for disorderly conduct in a Walmart parking lot. An external review board reinstated Baker and another officer, Steve Cosban. (We asked the police department for additional complaints filed against Baker. We'll keep you updated with anyresponses.)
Baker, a 22-year veteran of SantaFe city police, was elected president of the Santa Fe Police OfficersAssociation about a year ago. The union represents roughly 150 sworn officers and civilianemployees, according to Baker.
Not every one of Baker's Facebook posts expresses his political views. Forexample, he routinely posts memorials for fallen officers. He also occasionallyshares personal news, including a photograph of the trophy he received afterthe Santa Fe Police Department awarded him 2016 Supervisor of the Year.
But much of Baker’s social media activity involves sharing overtly racist orsexist content, often derived from the pages of right-wing icons like Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher(better known as "Joe the Plumber") and Milo Yiannopoulos, the provocateur whowas recently dropped as keynote speaker for the Conservative Political ActionCommittee after a video of him defending pedophiles surfaced.
Baker frequently uses his Facebook page to express his views on immigration. Likethis one:
Another post of his from June 2016 links to a story about a US Congressionalbill that would pull federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities," jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal deportation authorities.Baker’s post predated the election of President Donald Trump, who has promisedto do the same thing. Santa Fe is a sanctuary city.
While Baker does not say whether he condones pulling federal funding fromsanctuary cities, he makes his view clear in a phone call with SFR. “Why shoulda city be rewarded for violating federal law?” Baker says. “I have a lot offriends who are here illegally too. I am absolutely against the criminalelement and making the city an absolute safe haven, but again, that’s mypersonal opinion and has nothing to do with the police department.”
Baker also often uses his Facebook page to make generalizations about Muslimsand refugees fleeing war-torn Syria. Like this one:
While Baker typically doesn’t add substantial commentary to the memes he posts,the sergeant became quite verbose in November 2015, when Mayor Javier Gonzalescalled on Gov. Susana Martinez to welcome more Syrian refugees into New Mexico.“He went from honoring our veterans last week, tokicking us in the balls today,” Baker, whose Facebook profile picture is a US Army uniform, wrote of the mayor. “We have enoughissues here in Santa Fe for our overworked, underpaid, and understaffed policedepartment. We don’t need to add international terrorists to our citizens. Ourproximity to LANL, SNL and Kirtland AFB, make us a prime target."
Santa Fe is hardly the first police department to conduct internalinvestigations over content shared or posted by officers on social media. Just 50 miles south, the Albuquerque Police Department became one of the first inthe nation to implement a social media conduct policy after journalists(namely, former Albuquerque Journalreporter and current SFR contributing editor Jeff Proctor) flagged offensiveposts made by officers.
One detective was temporarily suspended for listing his job description as “humanwaste disposal,” a detail reporters noticed after he fatally shot a man during a traffic stop. In anotherexample, a detective was fired after posts referencing swastikas,pistol-whipping and disparaging comments about Muslims.
Taken together, the Albuquerque officers' posts offered one of the first publicwindows into deeply rooted problems surrounding civil rights, use of force anda dim view of the public at the state's largest law enforcement agency.
After a 16-month investigation of Albuquerque police by the US Department ofJustice, federal officials would describe it in a blistering set of findingsissued in April 2014 as a "culture of aggression" that led towidespread excessive force and one of the highest rates of police shootings inthe nation.
The Department of Justice most recently referenced social media posts expressingdiscriminatory views in a scathing report of civil rights violations by theChicago Police Department.
After coming across Baker’s Facebook page, SFR reviewed the Facebook pages ofthe rest of the Santa Fe Police Department roster. Of those who set their pagesto public, we could not find any posts with the same tenor, tone or offensive content as Baker's.
Baker set his page to private after SFR called him for comment.
