An official in Luna County, New Mexico is under fire after a Snapchat post in which he blamed the Asian community for spreading COVID-19.
Tyler Massey, who works as a Luna County Safety and Risk Coordinator, shared the post on Snapchat on March 18, recounting his experience at a Walmart while he was shopping for groceries, according to Las Cruces Sun-News.
“There were about six Asians,” Massey said in his expletive-laden social media post, alleging that they cut him off in the parking lot. “They parked right next to me. They were all around me. They were all buying sh*t in bulk and I’m like, hello, it was your f**king cousins (who) did this to us.”
“I think I have been exposed,” he said as a result of the encounter and declared he would self-quarantine for a day.
Massey was Hidalgo County’s chief deputy before he was elected as the county’s treasurer in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He then announced his resignation from his office on March 1 to take the job coordinating Luna County’s risk and safety awareness program.
Even after the outrage caused by his Snapchat post, Massey remains a county employee, according to Luna County Attorney Charles Kretek, adding that county manager Chris Brice “addressed the matter internally,” KVIA reported.
Feature Image (left) screenshot via @nowthisnews, (right) via Tyler Massey
