The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has made good on its promise to fire a lieutenant who posted Facebook photos of herself near the U.S. Capitol at the time of the January 6 insurrection.
Lt. Roxanne Mathai, 46, was terminated from her job five months after Sheriff Javier Salazar pledged to remove her from the force, KSAT reports. She was an eight-year BCSO veteran.
In January, Salazar told the media he became aware of the photos immediately after the armed insurrection and that he'd forwarded them to the FBI and Washington police. At the time, he said he wanted to ban Mathai from ever setting foot inside a BCSO building again.
Salazar also confirmed to KSAT at the time that Mathai had already been on leave since October, pending an investigation into whether she had an inappropriate relationship with an inmate.
Mathai's attorney has told KSAT the lieutenant was unaware of the violence taking place inside the capitol and that her Facebook post saying "we are going in" was bluster. The attorney also promised to release a statement Thursday about the firing.
According to earlier reports, Mathai shared a Facebook image of rioters after they forced their way through a police line. In her post she allegedly claimed she was "in the crowd at the stairs" but didn't enter the Capitol because she feared "catching a case."
“Not gonna lie.....aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And it’s not over yet,” she also posted, according to KSAT.
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