A bodycam video from a Brewster County sheriff's deputy shows a group of border wall contractors making lewd comments about a Terlingua woman, according to The Big Bend Sentinel, which obtained the video through an open records request. The video was recorded in August, after the woman filed complaints that the workers had crossed onto her land while building a fence at a man camp. She told the newspaper they taunted her and menaced her and a friend. The newspaper is not naming her at her request.
On the video, a contractor identified as Jason Dupuis Shaffer makes a remark about the woman, and Brewster County Deputy Preston Bolton is heard making a follow-up comment. The men laugh. Deputies were writing criminal trespass notices for some of the men, which state that they will be charged with a Class B misdemeanor if they enter the woman's property again.
Sheriff Ronny Dodson said he talked with Bolton about the incident. He said Bolton told him his comment was about bringing wine, not sex, and that Bolton did not mean to be derogatory. Dodson said he sent memos to his officers about professional conduct and said he would punish officers for improper actions. The incident occurred at a man camp on Highway 118 north of Terlingua, being built by Cartesian Company for a project led by Southwest Valley Constructors, a subsidiary of Kiewit. A Kiewit spokesperson said the workers are not Kiewit employees. Shaffer and Cartesian Company responded to requests for comment.