A screenshot from a TikTok video posted by a University of New Mexico police officer featuring a man laying tile with a South Park voice over saying “scanning for Mexicans.” UNM says it has launched an investigation.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A video posted by a University of New Mexico police officer in March of a man laying tile with a “South Park” voice-over saying “scanning for Mexicans” is being investigated by the university.
The video was posted March 29 on the social media app TikTok, apparently by UNMPD officer Eric Peer. UNM spokeswoman Cinnamon Blair said Peer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
“No decisions have been made,” she said.
The Journal was unable to reach Peer for comment on Friday. He has worked at UNM for nearly four years.
The video was recorded inside an unspecified house and shows the floor where tile is being laid.
The sound of Eric Cartman, a character in the animated Comedy Central show “South Park,” can be heard saying in a robotic manner “scanning for Mexicans” as the video pans through the house. When it zooms in on a man on the floor laying the tile, Cartman’s voice can be heard saying “ah, we’ve got a Mexican!”
The audio on the video is from Season 15, Episode 9 of “South Park” titled “The Last of the Meheecans,” in which Cartman becomes a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
It is unclear who the man working in the video is, who recorded the video or where it is being recorded.
But a recording of Peer’s video was posted at 10:48 p.m. Thursday by Associated Students of UNM Senator Emma Hotz — the video that caught the attention Friday morning of UNM’s administration.
“We are aware of the social media incident related to one of our UNMPD officers, and are investigating immediately and appropriately,” UNM President Garnett Stokes wrote in a post on Twitter. “@UNM and @unmpd stand against racism and social injustice. Respect and diversity are part of our culture, values and who we are as Lobos.”
Hotz’s video is a screen recording of Peer’s previously-public TikTok page (@505collegecop) — a page with more than 11,000 followers and a UNM Lobos logo as the account’s avatar. The page said it was run by “Eric” but lists “No bio yet” under the user’s bio section.
Hotz’s video shows all eight videos from the officer’s account, including the “Scanning for Mexicans” voice-over. Just seven videos were remaining on the account as of mid-morning Friday as the one in question had been removed. By noon, the account itself had been removed.
The remaining seven videos included four featuring a Great Dane with hashtags like #DogsOfTikTok and three featuring scenes while working for UNMPD — one of a fellow officer putting out a small fire to the music of Bonnie Tyler’s 1986 song “Holding Out for a Hero,” one of various scenes of a UNMPD vehicle parked on the sidewalks around campus and an officer on a bicycle riding in and around various UNM buildings as well as a third of a UNMPD officer on a scooter mimicking a scene from the 1994 Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels movie “Dumb and Dumber.”
UNM boasts often on its website and in news releases of its status as “the nation’s only flagship state university that is also a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI),” a distinction defined as an institute of higher education that has at least 25% undergraduate Hispanic enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
It is unclear if UNMPD has its own social media policy. UNM’s social media policy includes such warnings as:
■ “You are personally responsible for what you post on blogs and microblogs, social networks, forums, and other social media. Be sure that what you post today will not come back to haunt you.”
■ “If you are unsure about a work-related posting, seek approval from your supervisor or manager before posting it.”
■ “Refrain from publishing content that contains slurs, personal insults or attacks, and/or profanity or obscenity. Do not engage in any conduct on a social media site that would not be acceptable in The University of New Mexico workplace.”
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