CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nancy Vera, president of the Corpus Christi chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said she is taking extra security measures at home and work after receiving a number of threats.
Vera said it all began after her response to a Facebook post made by Nueces County Sheriff J.C. Hooper.
The post in question centers around a CCAFT and Coastal Bend Trans Alliance book drive focused on LGBTQ+ storylines.
AFT Chapter President, Nancy Vera, said the sheriff posted a screenshot of a news article about the event in a way that she believes was "mocking a local book giveaway."
That prompted Vera to appear before County Commissioners Wednesday at their weekly meeting, asking that commissioners direct the sheriff to issue an apology to anyone who may have been impacted by the comment.
On Tuesday, Vera told 3NEWS she has since been receiving threats online and by phone. She said she has not yet filed a police report on the threats, but is hoping for a meeting with Corpus Christi Police Chief Mike Markle.
In the meantime, Vera said security has been a priority.
Vera said that she is now carrying mace as a safety measure due to the number of threats that have been made against her.
"Yes, I am carrying mace," Vera said. "It's a military grade mace because I don't want there to be any kind of situation where I am accosted, or something that happens to me, because I have a lot of work still to do."
AFT Administrative Assistant Hilda Salazar said being at work has been a bit more stressful over the past week.
"I'm not scared but I'm concerned that people are even doing this. Why?" Salazar said.
Vera also said she has added security cameras at work and at her home as well.
"I'm not saying that they're going to shoot me with an automatic or semi-automatic weapon, but the fact of the matter is I have to look around me and now I'm being even more vigilant, because I feel that it's my safety," Vera said. "I mean they cannot kill me, but they can beat me, and I think that's some of the threats that I'm getting."
So far the threats have just been threats according to Vera.
CCPD confirmed to 3NEWS they have not received any reports of the threats from Vera. They said they encourage her to do so.
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