ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The deputy chief at a New Mexico jail will retire this week after an investigation found that he used a racial slur to refer to an inmate.
Deputy Chief Aaron Vigil of the Metropolitan Detention Center will retire on Friday. He has not worked at the jail since August pending the investigation, said the center's spokeswoman Julia Rivera.
Vigil, who has worked at the detention center since 2018, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Albuquerque Journal.
Rivera said that Vigil used the racial slur in a text message referring to Clifton White, a 36-year-old Black man who was heavily involved in the Black Lives Matter movement when he was arrested by local law enforcement.
“It was brought to our attention that Deputy Chief Aaron Vigil had engaged in communication of a derogatory nature regarding an inmate in our custody,” Rivera said. “When we were made aware of the situation, it was swiftly communicated to the appropriate channels for investigation.”
Selinda Guerrero, White’s wife, said the language use was not surprising.
“These are high-ranking officials and they do this all the time," she said. "They do this in the prison, they do this in our communities when they engage with us. I’m just really … glad somebody was brave enough in the structure to be able to come forward (and) to put it out to the public so the entire community can see.”
A whistleblower reported the incident in August. The whistleblower said that the text thread was between Vigil and two others from the Albuquerque Police Department and the New Mexico Corrections Department.
