Fired? Phil Ryan On Facebook: Texas Police Officer Urges ‘Deadly Force’ Be Used Against People Harming Statues

Phil Ryan is a Texas police officer who got a whole lot more backlash than Phil bargained for when the Texas police officer published a Facebook post letting people know they could shoot to kill folks who are spraying graffiti on a statue or monument. Although the original Facebook post that Ryan posted has been deleted from Facebook, the Internet being what it is, Phil’s words will live on in the archives of the world wide web. As seen in Archive.is, Ryan offered “Just a little tip, from your Uncle Phil…” to his Facebook followers, letting them know they were legally in the right to kill people messing with statues.

As reported by Raw Story, Ryan posted his “public service announcement” to Facebook from the viewpoint of a police officer and police academy instructor. On his Facebook page, which is currently active, Phil Ryan is listed as living in McKinney, Texas, while Phil hails from Plano, Texas. Phil went on to describe how vandalism is a crime in Texas. Update: The Facebook page has been changed to the name “Lysander Spartan.”

“Phil Ryan is not a McKinney police officer and never has been.”

Update:The McKinney Police Department reports that Ryan is not a police officer with their department and never has been. It’s not clear if Ryan is actually a police officer with any Texas department or if Phil was impersonating a police officer.

Therefore criminal mischief falls under the umbrella of somebody destroying a statue. Ryan went on to quote “Criminal Mischief under Texas Penal Code Sec. 28.03,” stating that if someone messes with the tangible property of the owner or a third person, they are allowed to use “Texas Penal Code Chapter 9” to enact deadly force upon somebody messing with the owner’s property or a third party’s property.

Phil goes on to explain that Texas Penal Code “Chapter 9.41” states that a person “is justified” when they use deadly force when they think it is necessary to stop the other person interfering with the property. Ryan further explains that “Chapter 9.42” allows deadly force in the instance of “criminal mischief during the nighttime.” Ryan made sure to explain to his Facebook followers that nighttime is considered 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. If that wasn’t enough, Phil went on to elaborate to his Facebook followers that Texas law allows folks to basically shoot someone dead if they catch them messing with a statue at night.

“Bottom line, if someone is destroying a monument or statue that isn’t theirs, you can defend it by force during the day with deadly force at night.”

Ryan might not have been prepared for the backlash that Phil is receiving, in comments that are calling for the Texas Police Officer to be fired. Some of the comments being posted to Facebook can be read below.

“He must be fired! The world is watching since this is all over the internet! And, the McKinney Police Dept. should fire him for this.”

“McKinney Police Department is this your officer????”

“Fire his a**.”

“So you want a open carry person to shoot someone because they are defacing a Statue?”

“Phil Ryan always knows how to turn a little firecracker into Hiroshima.”

[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]