Local police union leader put on desk duty

Heightened tensions after violence in Virginia spur response to sergeant’s ‘All live splatter’ Facebook post in Feb.

The head of the Santa Fe police officers union was put on restricted desk duty Tuesday after Saturday’s racial violence in Charlottesville, Va., brought renewed attention to a cartoon image he had shared on Facebook in February that depicted a car running over protesters.

“All lives splatter,” was the headline on the image posted by Sgt. Troy Baker, an apparent reference to the Black Lives Matter movement that seeks to draw attention to police shootings of African-Americans.

Police Chief Patrick Gallagher on Tuesday told the city’s Public Safety Committee that his decision to put Baker on restricted desk duty was in the best interest of the department and the public after the events in Charlottesville triggered more questions about Baker, said City Councilor Chis Rivera, who chairs the advisory panel.

Gallagher in February opened an internal affairs investigation into Baker after the Santa Fe Reporter published various offensive memes about minorities, women and immigrants that Baker had shared on Facebook over the years.

The particular image that attracted new attention from Facebook and Twitter users Sunday is the cartoon rendering of a vehicle running over three stick figures.

“Nobody cares about your protest,” reads the caption. “Moral of the story .. Stay off the road!!”

Virginia authorities are holding James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Heather Heyer, 32. Police say she was killed Saturday when Fields plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting against white supremacists who had come to Charlottesville for a so-called Unite the Right rally. Authorities say Fields also injured 19 other people.

The New Mexican on Sunday asked Gallagher and Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales about Baker’s post after it attracted renewed criticism on social media. Gonzales said there should be “no acceptance” of Baker’s behavior.

“I know it’s not representative of our police department,” Gonzales said. “When this happens, the fear is that it taints the entire police force.”

Santa Fe Police Department spokesman Greg Gurulé told

The New Mexican on Monday that the internal investigation into the matter was still ongoing after nearly six months. “We do a thorough job of investigating and evaluating concerns since this involves an officer’s reputation and livelihood,” he said.

On Tuesday, Gurulé said in an email that internal affairs investigators made the chief aware of a new “item” that caused him to put Baker on desk duty. Gurulé did not specify what had changed. The chief told the Public Safety Committee that he was limited in what he could disclose publicly, according to Rivera, who did not comment on Baker’s post because he did not “really recall what it was all about.”

Baker on Tuesday evening did not return a voice message seeking comment. When reached by phone Sunday, Baker had said, “I’ve got nothing to say to you guys.”

In a response to the Santa Fe Reporter in February, Baker called the post a “joke.”

“We don’t need to be running over people intentionally,” Baker was quoted as saying, “but people shouldn’t be blocking roadways either.”

Before a city-sponsored rally against racism Monday evening on the Santa Fe Plaza, former City Councilor and former mayoral contender Patti Bushee posted on her Facebook page that she was conflicted about attending, in part because “this man is still employed with our police department after this outrageous post.”

Staff writer Robert Nott contributed to this report.