Manatee deputy suspended after confrontation at Walmart. He refused to wear a mask
When confronted over why he and his family were not wearing masks while shopping at a Walmart store in Bradenton, a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy provided a litany of excuses during a hostile confrontation with another customer.
Corrections Deputy Billie Wilson had gone to the Walmart on 6225 State Road 64 East in Bradenton on Sept. 21 to buy ammunition with his wife and their six children, according to internal affairs reports. None of them were wearing masks.
Wilson provided the woman who confronted him with a litany of excuses: that he just didn’t have to wear a mask, that he didn’t have to wear a mask because of his permit to conceal carry a weapon and because he had a medical condition.
The woman, a nurse practitioner, later told a sheriff’s office professional standards investigator that as a healthcare worker who sometimes works in an emergency room, putting her own life at risk, it frustrated her to see others go without a mask.
When she pressed Wilson further as to why he was not abiding by the local mask mandate, Wilson whipped out his sheriff’s badge and said: “I’m a law enforcement officer. I know the law.”
“Deputy Wilson’s conduct was unbecoming when his obstinate behavior led to his employer and occupation becoming intertwined with his personal beliefs. This nexus suggested that the office of the sheriff condones his refusal to comply with the adopted Manatee County resolution,” an internal affairs investigation concluded on Oct. 2. “Once he identified himself as a deputy sheriff and flashed his badge, a clear connection between Deputy Wilson’s personal beliefs and his employment was created.”
A 15-year veteran, Wilson was suspended for one day for the sustained finding of conduct unbecoming a deputy.
The sheriff’s office received a formal complaint the day after the incident at the Walmart.
During his first interview with professional standards investigators, Wilson admitted he didn’t have any medical conditions but then added as an afterthought that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on July 15.
“If anybody shouldn’t be wearing a mask, you would want me not to wear masks since I carry the antibodies for the thing,” Wilson said.
Wilson was questioned about the county’s mask mandate, as well as directives from the sheriff’s office.
“It’s against my religious beliefs that I do not. I do not want to wear a mask because it is not beneficial,” Wilson said. “That mask is not beneficial to me.”
Wilson didn’t recall making the comment about having a medical condition, which was heard by witnesses in the store. He acknowledge he must have said it “to shut the lady up because I know for a fact she can’t ask me what my medical condition is.”
During a follow-up interview with investigators, Wilson was questioned about his concealed carry permit excuse and shown screenshots taken from his Facebook page. In a June 23 post, Wilson wrote that after doing some more research, he learned that you can still carry a concealed gun while wearing a mask.
But Wilson insisted in October that it “was still very vague.” Under further questioning, Wilson admitted he understood the difference between the wearing of a medical mask and a mask for disguise, which is not allowed when you have a concealed permit because of it can prevent identification.
After again clarifying that he did not have a medical condition, Wilson was questioned if he had any religious beliefs that prevented him from wearing a mask. A month prior to the Walmart incident, the Manatee County Commission had adopted a new mask mandate that exempted houses of worship.
“Well, I don’t want to discuss a religious belief. ... “I feel like I’m being attacked right now,” Wilson said.
He added, ‘This whole interview process, it feels like I’m a criminal right now.”
Wilson was awarded the 2015 Deputy of the Year award for helping to apprehend a man he witnessed shoot a gun while running through a Hillsborough neighborhood while off-duty.
Wilson was also honored with the Saramana Sons of the American Revolution Chapter’s heroism award and Congressional District Law Enforcement Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Award for his actions in that incident.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 1:34 PM.
