© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Mexico official in video blames 'Asians' for virus

DEMING, N.M. (AP) — A southern New Mexico county official is under fire for posting a social media video casting blame for the novel coronavirus pandemic on “Asians.”

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Luna County Safety and Risk Coordinator Tyler Massey posted an expletive-laden video on Snapchat earlier this month, where he complained about people of Asian descent buying “in bulk” at a Walmart.

He says their “cousins” started the pandemic and then alleged the Asian customers in the parking lot left him “exposed” to COVID-19.

Luna County Attorney Charles Kretek verified that Massey remained a county employee and said county manager Chris Brice “addressed the matter internally.”