CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A social media post from Nueces County Sheriff John Hooper prompted demands for an apology from both the the Corpus Christi and Texas chapters of the American Federation of Teachers.
CCAFT President Nancy Vera will ask Hooper for a public apology during an 11 a.m. news conference. Meanwhile, the president of the Texas AFT said the union "stands disgusted" with the meaning behind the post.
The post in question centers around a CCAFT and Coastal Bend Trans Alliance book drive focused on LGBTQ+ storylines. Vera said the sheriff posted a screenshot of a news article about the event in a way that she believes was "mocking a local book giveaway."
Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez saw the now-deleted post, which was reportedly a screenshot of the news article with the caption from Hooper reading "Wow", and responded. In his post, Gonzalez asked Sheriff Hooper why he would delete it.
Later Thursday, CCAFT put out a press release calling for Sheriff Hooper to publicly apologize, saying that the post encouraged people to post hate toward the Trans Alliance group.
"In celebration of PRIDE month, the Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers gave away 1,000 books featuring LGBTQIA+ story lines this week. A few glamorous volunteers from the Trans Alliance helped distribute books in the community and now, they face online abuse due to a Facebook post by Nueces County Sheriff John Chris Hooper," the release said.
"We respect the Sheriff's right to free speech, however, as the County's top licensed peace officer, his inappropriate actions incited hate today, and sent a chilling message."
The union also called on Nueces County leaders to reprimand Sheriff Hooper for the post.
"We call on Nueces County Commissioners Court to admonish Sheriff Hooper for his public condemnation of homosexuality, and to impose sensitivity training. The Sheriff has subjected Nueces County to liability concerns regarding his bias in hiring and operational practices," the statement read.
"We condemn Sheriff Hooper's deeply disturbing behavior and demand a public apology. We must move forward as a community with civility and compassion in thoughts, words and actions," the statement continued. "What began as an uplifting storytime Monday has been marred by Sheriff Hooper, and he must make it right. Fanning the flames of hate in our already volatile and vulnerable community is harmful, violent and terrorizing."
Texas AFT President Zeph Capo released a statement about the post as well:
"At a time when our state's leadership has made it a legislative priority to bully vulnerable children for trying to be who they are, we must remain vigilant against any attempt to stir up hate against the LGBTQIA+ community.
So our union stands disgusted by the vitriol and hate spurred by a social media post (since deleted) from Nueces County Sheriff John Chris Hooper, sharing his apparent disdain for a private event hosted by the Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers, the Coastal Bend Pride Center, and other community partners.
The event included a giveaway of books that show the LGBTQIA+ community in friendly and positive ways, something we unequivocally support.
We know reading not only opens new worlds for our students but can help them understand themselves in the process. Every child deserves to see themselves represented in the books they read, and we are immensely proud of the educators across the state working to get life-changing, affirming books into the hands of kids and families.
Sheriff Hooper’s post is another instance in a long list of elected officials projecting their personal biases in the public sphere, giving license for the hateful rhetoric that leads not only to violence but unequal treatment under the law for some of the most vulnerable among us.
As educators, we care for every child in our classrooms and our schools. It is our responsibility to protect them, support them, and respect them — regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
As union members, we long have considered it our collective calling to stand up for those who are targeted or bullied by people in power. We take that calling especially seriously when those being bullied are our kids.
We wish only that those in elected positions took their responsibility to Texans and Texas children as seriously."
CCAFT will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. to publicly call for an apology from Sheriff Hooper.
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