Deputy prison warden fired over Facebook posts tries to get his job back

MADISON - A Wisconsin prison official fired for posting Facebook memes that compared Muslim children to garbage and likened raising a gay pride flag to flying the Confederate flag is trying to get his job back. 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in July reported about the posts by Deputy Warden Richard "Sam" Schneiter. He was fired last year and is now trying to get his job back, according to the state Department of Corrections. 

The Associated Press first reported Friday on Schneiter's firing and his attempt to get his job back. 

Schneiter's attorney, Nate Cade, said there was no evidence Schneiter had posted the memes during work or mistreated anyone based on race or religion. 

"I think he was a scapegoat," Cade said. 

In one Facebook message, Schneiter posted a photo of two full black garbage bags next to a Muslim woman and child in black burqas that covered their faces and bodies. “I saw her standing there and told her she had three beautiful children,” text pasted onto the photo says.

Soon after the Journal Sentinel published an article about Schneiter's meme comparing Muslims to garbage, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes posted a message on Twitter saying Schneiter was "the one who has to be taken out."

Cade questioned whether Barnes' comments inappropriately influenced the decision to fire Schneiter in November. 

"I don't think it's any different than Donald Trump making statements and all of the sudden everyone beneath him does what he wanted directly or indirectly," Cade said. 

Another post contrasted the rainbow flag with the Confederate flag and included the words, “If they have the right to fly theirs, we Deserve the Right to Fly Ours.”

In an interview at the time, Schneiter said he posted the memes to bring attention to messages that show up on the internet, including ones he disagreed with.

He called the post about Muslims offensive but said it helped start a discussion. He said he feared a decision to fly rainbow flags over state buildings during LGBTQ pride week last summer could lead to a court ruling requiring the hoisting of Confederate flags, which he called a symbol of racism.

Cade on Friday said Schneiter couldn't be fired for internet posts that some might find offensive. 

"We're not yet in a police state where everything you say and do can get you fired," he said. 

Schneiter was the deputy warden of the Wisconsin Correctional Center System, a network of 14 minimum-security prisons that primarily house inmates just before they are released. He was paid about $93,000 annually before he was fired in November.

Department of Corrections officials said they became aware of the posts when the Journal Sentinel asked about them last year. It started an investigation into them soon afterward.

Schneiter told the Journal Sentinel in July he might retire within weeks but is now fighting to get his job back. He has a hearing over his firing before the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission in April.

Schneiter started working for the Department of Corrections in 1977 and worked his way up over the years to leadership positions, including as assistant administrator of the Division of Adult Institutions and warden of the maximum-security prison in Boscobel.

He retired in 2011 but returned to the Department of Corrections as a deputy warden less than six months later.

Schneiter last year said he voted for Democrat Tony Evers for governor in 2018 but considers himself a conservative. His Facebook page at the time included posts supportive of Trump and critical of prominent Democrats.  

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.