Akron At-large Councilman Eric D. Garrett says a Facebook post from the city’s police union turned a political dispute into something far more personal over the Juneteenth weekend, when Akron Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 shared a mocked-up image of him online. The picture shows Garrett in a colorful wig and a fishing jacket, holding a pole. Speaking at yesterday's council meeting, he said the post made him feel targeted and was a completely racist photo, adding that it chipped away at public trust in the middle of already tense debates over policing.
What the union posted
The image, which appears to be AI-generated, carried the caption, “Eric Garrett loves political fishing expeditions,” and went up last Wednesday on the union’s Facebook page. Garrett told colleagues his 26-year-old daughter was the one who showed him the post during Juneteenth weekend. He believes it was payback for a series of 12 public-records requests he filed related to an officer-involved incident, according to News 5 Cleveland.
Union pushes back
Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge 7 President, Sgt. Brian Lucey is not backing down. In a written statement, he argued that Garrett was the one who injected race into the dispute, saying, “If you want to know who dragged race into this, read councilman Garrett’s own letter.” Lucey accused Garrett of mocking officers’ use of force in a Jan. 29 letter and said the Facebook post was meant to “poke fun” at Garrett’s correspondence, not to be racist. The union’s statement and Garrett’s response were both published by News 5 Cleveland.
A history of tension
The dust-up did not come out of nowhere. It is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between Garrett and police leadership. Garrett has been a persistent critic of department conduct and previously filed a grievance accusing the city’s law director of leaking draft legislation to the FOP. Reporting by Signal Akron details earlier council clashes and the union’s pattern of turning out members to oppose Garrett’s proposals, a context that helps explain why a single social media post landed like yet another salvo in a much larger fight.
City leaders try to steer the debate
Mayor Shammas Malik has tried to pull the conversation back to policy. He has urged officials to focus on substantive reforms instead of personal shots as Akron works through use-of-force reviews and broader police oversight. City leaders have been wrestling with how to fund and structure the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board and other accountability measures, a backdrop that makes even a Facebook jab feel like part of a higher-stakes battle over public safety and trust, according to Ideastream Public Media.
