AKRON, Ohio — At-large Councilman Eric Garrett is speaking out after he said Akron Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 posted a culturally insensitive picture of him on its Facebook page.
“My 26-year-old daughter had to show me this during the Juneteenth weekend. It’s pretty sad. It’s unfortunate. This is what we stooped to,” said Garrett. “This is completely a racist photo.”
Despite multiple Black elected leaders asking for what they call an offensive meme of Garrett to be taken down, the picture is still posted on the police union’s Facebook page after it was shared last Wednesday.
That’s why Garrett and a few supporters spoke out about it during Monday’s city council meeting.
“That made me deeply unsettled,” said Councilmember Fran Wilson.
In the picture, which appears to be AI-generated, Garrett is seen wearing a colorful wig with a fishing jacket and a fishing pole.
There’s also a caption that says, “Eric Garrett loves political fishing expeditions,” which Garrett believes is in response to 12 separate public records requests he submitted for clarity on an incident involving an Akron police officer.
“I just want accountability. I just want transparency,” said Garrett.
Akron FOP 7 President Sergeant Brian Lucey sent the following statement:
“If you want to know who dragged race into this, read councilman Garrett's own letter.
On January 29, 2026, on his made-up city council letterhead, Garrett wrote to our union president and the Chief of Police. In that letter, he mocked our officers' use of force as bumbling "Barney Fife" slapstick. He wrote that the union president use of force incidents "appear to involve Black males almost exclusively." He told our union president to go "diversify your membership." He put all of it in writing, signed his name, and hit send.
That's the councilman who now wants to suggest a picture poking fun at him is racist.
He is the one who reduced dangerous, split-second moments our officers lived through to a punchline. He is the one who racialized it on his made-up letterhead. And he did it in the name of transparency and accountability, while a complaint against his own conduct goes unanswered.
So yes, we posted a picture poking fun at him. After a letter like that, he earned every bit of it. It has nothing to do with race, and the man pointing the finger knows exactly who made it about race. He signed the page.
If Councilman Garrett wants to be taken seriously, he can answer for what he put on that letterhead. We're still waiting. So is Akron.”
Still, Garrett thinks there’s more to the story.
“Tell me that you don’t want me to look into something without telling me you don’t want me to look into something. I mean that post said it all,” said Garrett.
When News 5 sat down with Garrett around 5:30 p.m. Monday, he said he hadn’t received a response from the mayor even after the letter was sent. But that all changed in the matter of a few hours.
“The reality is that we have to focus on the substance if we’re able to move ourselves forward, and we also have to be willing to have uncomfortable conversations and not fall victim to personal attacks or to the blame game,” Mayor Shammas Malik said.
