It took about two hours on Friday for the Kerrville community to dig up other Christmas-themed photos posted by school board candidate Brandon Aery and his wife, but this one might be the most problematic.
Aery is challenging longtime Kerrville Independent School District trustee Jack Stevens in the District 2 race for the board of trustees. However, Brandon and Clarissa Aery have a history of posting Christmas-themed photos with a political bent.
On Friday morning, The Lead received three photos of the Aerys’ non-traditional Christmas photos. Later in the day, a Pinterest post from Clarissa Aery mocking Mexican or Central American immigrants emerged from several sources.
In the photo, Brandon Aery dressed as a Latin American-themed Santa Claus, with a giant sombrero and exaggerated Cowboy boots, or Mexican pointy boots, which were popular among some Cumbia bands in the 2010s. The series of three photos, two of which have Spanish headlines, features Clarissa Aery in a faux-federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement uniform arresting Santa Claus.
The headline on the main photo says, “came dashing illegally like a crazy bombero.” A second photo is in Spanish but asks if the elves are legal. The couple’s twin children are in the photos.
Nearly half of KISD’s student population is of Hispanic descent. The district has more than 2,100 Hispanic students, and 53% of all students are economically disadvantaged.
After the first batch of photos emerged, including one emphasizing a “white” Christmas while Brandon Aery posed with an assault rifle, The Lead requested a comment about the nature of the photos. Brandon Aery, or his campaign, has yet to return emails requesting comment.
Read more on the matter: https://kerrcountylead.com/kerrrville-trustee-candidates-social-media-posts-raise-eyebrows/
