By Josh Baugh
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO — Nearly two dozen San Antonio police officers have been disciplined for wearing “Make America Great Again” hats with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump just before the candidate boarded his jet after a fundraiser here.
Police Chief William McManus met this week with 23 officers, including six supervisors, to discipline them for violating city policy, which prohibits any city employees from wearing political garb while on duty.
On Tuesday, members of the SAPD’s motorcycle unit escorted Trump from the San Antonio International Airport to a downtown fundraiser and back. When they returned, the officers donned red hats given to them by the campaign.
In a 25-second video of the incident that Trump posted on Twitter, the New York billionaire can be heard saying, “Thank you, fellas,” to the officers. Several of them, wearing the hats, responded in kind and gave him the thumbs-up sign.
As Trump boarded his airplane to leave, the officers turned away and walked toward their parked motorcycles, seen in the background. The video captures at least 14 officers wearing the hats. Beneath them, text on the video reads: “WE WILL MAKE AMERICA SAFE & GREAT AGAIN, TOGETHER!”
Thank you Texas! If you haven’t registered to VOTE- today is your last day. Go to: https://t.co/HfihPEA3Sp & get out on 11/8/16 to #MAGA! pic.twitter.com/KlRx4GoO64
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016
On Friday, McManus said in a prepared statement that officers involved violated the department’s “guiding principles.”
“The San Antonio Police Department is dedicated to the citizens that we serve. Our mission is to treat all people with integrity, compassion, fairness and respect,” he said. “The recent actions by the officers assigned to the escort detail for the presidential candidate are inconsistent with our guiding principles.”
McManus said “corrective action” would be taken.
“Six supervisors will be issued a written reprimand, and 17 officers will be provided written counseling,” he said in the statement. “In addition, as part of the corrective action, the officers involved will receive training this month that will focus on the importance of impartiality and fairness in performance of official duties.”
Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, declined to comment Friday. On Tuesday, he said officers cannot wear political garb while on duty.
Through her spokeswoman, Mayor Ivy Taylor declined to comment Friday on the discipline issued by the police chief.
Earlier this week, in the wake of revelations that the officers had broken city policy, Taylor posted about her disappointment on her social media accounts.
“I am deeply disappointed by some of our SAPD officers’ lack of judgment,” she wrote on Facebook, with a similar version on Twitter. “While on duty, police must be above politics with an obligation to serve everyone equally. Everything they do should send that message and today’s actions did not.”
Reaction to Taylor’s comments was immediate, mixed and sometimes visceral.
On Facebook, some people, such as Joyce Townsend, defended Taylor’s position.
“This has received national attention (prior to the Mayor’s comment) on social media. It’s a non-partisan issue,” she wrote. “They were on city time & by wearing the caps they indicated support for one of the candidates for the Presidency. It’s not hard to ascertain why this wasn’t proper.”
Others, like Richard Hunter, excoriated Taylor.
“I am a Republican who supported and voted for you, never again,” Hunter wrote, adding that it was Republican support that put Taylor in office.
McManus said in his Friday statement that he understands the concerns about the cops having worn the Trump hats.
“Beyond violating Departmental and City policy, the officers used poor judgment,” he said. “San Antonio Police Officers have always and will always remain dedicated to professionally serving all citizens. We will continue to work tirelessly to remain a national model for police agencies across the country.”
On Tuesday, City Attorney Andrew Segovia sent a letter to the Trump campaign, asking that the video be removed from the candidate’s social media accounts. By Friday, the video was still posted and had been shared on Twitter more than 12,300 times and garnered more than 30,500 likes.
Trump visited Dallas and San Antonio on Tuesday for fundraisers expected to raise
$5 million. The visit came on the heels of revelations about lewd comments by Trump about sexually assaulting women.
Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will meet Wednesday in Las Vegas for their final debate before the Nov. 8 election.