NSFW: Battle of Expletives Explodes in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, TX —After a completing a 10-month suspension for repeatedly calling a black handcuffed prisoner the N-word, a San Antonio police officer is back on the force. But according to him, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg should also be held accountable for using foul language in front of a crowd.

According to My San Antonio, back in 2010 Officer Tim Garcia was fired from the SAPD after he could be heard on body camera footage calling the prisoner the explicative. Garcia has arrested the suspect that was accused of criminal trespassing at the Shops at Rivercenter.

At the time of the firing Police Chief William McManus told an arbitrator why he decided to terminate Garcia.

“How can you have an officer working in the community that is as diversified as here with African-Americans as part of the population, after the public sees that he’s out here calling people the n-word, the (expletive) n-word, to quote?” McManus said. “That is the most inappropriate language I have ever heard used during an arrest, especially to a minority.”

Chief McManus’ decision was upheld by a review board of civilians and sworn officers who unanimously recommended the firing of Garcia.

But the arbitrator in the case disagreed with the decision. According to Thomas Cipolla, despite the officer’s “continued barrage of racially charged words,” the officer was probably “off that day and said some awful things he should not have said and is now sorry for them.”

He ultimately concluded that the evidence did not show Garcia was a racist because of “one diatribe does not automatically denote a racist.”

Cipolla overturned the chief’s decision and simply placed Garcia under a 10-month suspension.

But after Garcia returned to SAPD, the president of the police union, Mike Helle, is saying the mayor should also be held accountable.

Helle has issues with the language used by the San Antonio mayor at a protest in early June. While addressing a crowd of people protesting police violence, he told the group to hold him accountable.

"I'm the mayor of this goddamn city and we're going to make change together."

According to Helle, Garcia acknowledged he should have used that language and that it was “a lapse in my moment.”

"And if anybody knows a lapse in a moment when they lose their composure, our mayor (Ron Nirenberg) said the exact same offensive-like cuss word when he used the word G-D (goddamn) when he was on TV in front of the entire crowd and audience, right?” said Helle.

When asked by local media if both words were equally offensive Helle doubled down.

"For me, yes, it is," Helle said. "Why don’t you go ask one of our pastors or anybody that that’s their faith?"