When Ashley Gonzalez was fired by HPD for her N-word-laced social media rant, some members of Houston’s Black community met the news with a shrug that screamed: “And?”
They remember HPD Officer Scott Tschirhart, who shot and killed 24-year-old Third Ward resident Byron Gillum on Nov. 15, 1989. Tschirhart had previously been involved in several questionable “encounters” with Black Houstonians, including shootings and the beating of a handcuffed suspect.
Though no charges were ever filed against Tschirhart for the killing of Gillum, he was dismissed from HPD thanks in large part to the activism of the Ida Delaney/Byron Gillum Justice Committee.
Tschirhart then moved to Medina County, west of San Antonio, and was hired as a sheriff’s deputy. There, Tschirhart was involved in multiple violent incidents involving Mexican Americans he encountered while on the job.
Bigger than Gonzalez’s rant
Local activists contend the Gonzalez rant and subsequent firing speak to something bigger than that one incident—the need for laws that prevent officers fired for misconduct from being hired again by another law enforcement agency.
Credit: Caesar’s Photography.
“Let’s be clear—this is not just about one officer using a racial slur,” said activist, advocate, and author Candice Matthews. “This is about a broken system that continues to recycle officers who have already demonstrated bias, misconduct, and a disregard for the communities they are sworn to serve.”
Matthews noted that some officers charged with misconduct never get fired (as in Tschirhart’s case).
“When departments allow officers to quietly resign instead of being terminated and decertified, they are not solving the problem—they are relocating it,” shared Matthews.
However, Gonzalez, who stated multiple times how much she hated “f*cking n*ggers,” and that if she encountered one the day after her social media rant, “He’s going to jail,” was fired.
Mayor John Whitmire posted a written statement on Instagram. That post included a video in which Whitmire said, “Ashley Gonzalez, the HPD officer who was recorded making racist, vulgar comments on social media, has been terminated. She will no longer be a part of HPD.”
Whitmire added that Gonzalez will be held accountable by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. He then went further.
Credit: Aswad Walker/Defender.
“We will refer this matter to make certain that she loses her license,” said Whitmire, who then messaged all city employees. “This conduct will never be acceptable. We have zero tolerance in my administration for racism or lack of respect for our other citizens.”
However, Kofi Taharka, national chairman of the National Black United Front, contends that Gonzalez’s rant was a verbal acknowledgment of something deeper.
“The applied myth of global white supremacy and racism is the doctrine that is foundational and institutional in this society, including the police,” said Taharka. “Her rant spoke out loud this foundation, which can come in Brown, white, Black, Red, or Yellow face.”
Movement for stronger consequences
For decades, police reform activists have argued that the tradition of law enforcement agencies hiring officers who had been fired for misconduct should cease.
To that end, a movement was born to create a national database to track officers who had been fired for, or merely reprimanded for, police misconduct, such as excessive force, dishonest behavior, and decertification, to prevent officers with records of abuse from moving between agencies.
“Let’s be clear—this is not just about one officer using a racial slur. This is about a broken system that continues to recycle officers who have already demonstrated bias, misconduct, and a disregard for the communities they are sworn to serve.”
Candice Matthews
“If law enforcement agencies are serious about accountability, then termination is not enough,” argued Matthews. “There must be permanent decertification, a national database that prevents rehiring, and real consequences for departments that continue to recycle these individuals.”
In a May 2022 executive order, then-President Joe Biden established the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), which was launched in December 2023. This system tracked misconduct and commendations for federal (not city or state) law enforcement officers. It contained thousands of disciplinary records from 90 executive branch agencies for roughly 150,000 federal employees.
On President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term in office (Jan 20, 2025), he ordered NLEAD’s shutdown. But again, NLEAD never tracked local or state officer misconduct. And tracked misconduct did not necessarily equate to officer terminations or stopping the re-hiring of identified officers.
Gonzalez’s career
Before her recent termination, Gonzalez had logged more than 1,600 hours of coursework for the Houston Police Academy and other law enforcement organizations, according to documents pulled by KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry. Gonzalez was sworn in in January 2024 and assigned to the South Gessner Patrol Division.
Credit: Instagram.
Before working with HPD, she served in the U.S. Marines; a fact she referenced during her rant when she said, “Y’all don’t know how good it felt to say ‘N*gger’ out loud. Like, goddamn. I felt like I was back in the Marine Corps. I kid you not… Like, oh my God. I felt like the world just stopped. It was just peace.”
Matthews views Gonzalez and others like her as a danger.
“An officer who is comfortable using the N-word is not just expressing personal ignorance—they are signaling a dangerous mindset that can and does impact policing decisions, arrests, use of force, and ultimately, lives,” said Matthews. “That is a public safety issue.”
