MAUD, Texas - A Maud Independent School District Board of Trustees member under fire for a comment he made on Facebook says there is no malice in his statement.
"It was a very insensitive comment at a very inappropriate time. It carried no malice, I don't have a bigoted bone in my body," Boyd Sartin, a 30-year member of the Maud school board said Wednesday evening.
"Anyone who knows me will attest I am not a racist and the people who continue to share and comment on this post are race baiters - going after sensationalism, trying to create a dynamic and sensational event. They have misrepresented what I said tremendously," he said. " What I did was a mistake. It drove people to a place that was never my intention."
Two Facebook groups - Expose a Racist-Texarkana Edition and We Interrupt Those Choosing Hate - have screen captured a post made by Sartin. The groups are calling for his resignation from the school board based on his comment.
In the screenshots of Sartin's post, he responds to an "I Can't Breathe" post on someone else's page by commenting: "You must be a thug that has committed a crime."
In reply to Sartin's comment, someone writes "Boyd Sartin leave it to a school board member to say something like this."
Meanwhile, a Maud school board meeting has been called for 6 p.m. tonight to "discuss a possible complaint against a public school official and related issues."
"We as a district have been contacted with some concerns of the community . The district is aware of some comments and we are having a meeting " Superintendent Chris Bradshaw told the Gazette Wednesday afternoon.
Bradshaw declined to identify who voiced the complaints or which public official will be discussed in the meeting's closed session.
Bradshaw would not confirm or deny if Sartin's Facebook comment or the two Facebook groups' reactions to Sartin's comments prompted tonight's meeting.
The agenda lists a public comments session followed by an executive, or closed session, to "discuss a possible complaint against a public official and related issues."
Bradshaw said the district has policies in place "as far as social media communication, particularly regarding school business along with contacting students or communicating with students."
Because of social distancing requirements, Bradshaw said 17 people would be allowed in the board room, but an overflow room broadcasting the meeting would be available should more people attend.
Those wishing to speak will have to sign in upon arriving and will have at least 60 seconds to address the board.
After the closed session, the board will then return to regular session and adjourn, according to the agenda.
The meeting will be held at the board conference room, located at 389 Houston Drive in Maud, Texas.
Sartin said his Facebook comment was not made on his personal page, but was a comment on his daughter's page to an "I Can't Breathe" post she made.
"My daughter is quite a comical individual and a light-hearted jokester," he said. "We had a discussion and were just talking. It popped up on my phone 'I Can't Breathe' and in jest I made that comment."
Sartin says when he made the comment, he had no knowledge "except a little blurp" of George Floyd's May 25 death after an officer's knee was placed on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes.
"I saw one snapshot of the rioting and I didn't look at it. I just scrolled by it," he said.
Sartin said he is sorry his comment drew so much attention and believes it was a Dallas area man who used to lived in Texarkana who attracted attention to his comment, adding he had visited the man's page.
"He started the firestorm and he is feeding off of it," Sartin said.
"There are people just piling on like a dog fight. They are entitled to their opinion and I am entitled to mine," he said.
Sartin says he has no intention on resigning his post on the school board and he will attend the meeting.
"I have done nothing wrong in my estimation. But if this board feels I have done something wrong, I will give that some strong consideration," he said.
Sartin says he has received death threats and comments about his physical appearance in the message section of Facebook.
He does not believe 30 years of working to bolster the school district and its progress should be diminished with seven or eight words.
"Everybody needs to understand that no law, no policy that this board has, no action they can take can make me get off this board. I was put on by the citizens of this community and would have to be taken off my citizens of this community. If they have a valid point, I would not impugn Maud ISD or cast a shadow. We have graduated may scholars and educated a lot of students.
"We are going to play it by ear. I am going to have my day in court. I will tell my story much as I have told you and we will see how it goes. I have had some positive comments from citizens in the community. I will stand with them in this virtual world that is trying to belittle me and degrade me."