The police chief of East Cleveland has been suspended pending an investigation into a collection of racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic texts he admitted to sending that he called “satire.”
Local news outlets report that Police Chief Brian Gerhard’s texting history reveals he sent and received numerous memes between 2019 and 2022 that contain offensive material.
Many of those memes that Gerhard sent and received contain the following:
- A number of anti-Black messages and images, including at least one featuring the N-word and another of a police car with watermelons for wheels.
- Several photos of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, including one meme that claimed he was “right about the Jews.”
- An image of a Nazi war helmet that was described as “very cool.”
- Multiple homophobic memes, including an anti-LGBT quote, purported to be from former Nazi SS Officer Klaus Barbie.
- One image that includes the phrase, “American presidents are slaves to the Jews.”
- A suggestion that a prominent Nazi would renounce his citizenship because of “all those homosexuals in Germany today.”
Gerhard defended the memes and texts to news station WOIO.
“It’s tongue-in-cheek stuff. There’s no racism there. You can go online and find this stuff anywhere,” Gerhard told the local news outlet. “I think they’re satire,” he added.
Gerhard was appointed as chief of police in October 2022 amidst a backdrop of internal upheaval within the department in which numerous officers were criminally indicted for civil rights violations, felonious assault, aggravated robbery, bribery, and theft.
In fact, Gerhard’s predecessor, Scott Gardner, was charged with theft in office, tax violations, and aggravated theft. More than a dozen former and current members of the force faced various charges in a department that contains about 45 officers.
Gardner’s attorney, Allison Hibbard, sent copies of Gerhard’s texts to local news publications. Gerhard accused Gardner of trying to discredit his reputation following his appointment as police chief and efforts to rehabilitate the force.
“The fact that he saves memes that are two or three years old (and) all of a sudden turns them over to his lawyers is questionable,” Gerhard said. “He was my supervisor at the time, and if he had issues with memes, then why was I not disciplined?”
Hibbard claimed that Gerhard “has a well-established reputation as a nazi-sympathizer and anti-Semitic, a racist, and a homophobe” and added that “the consequences of placing someone with these ideals in a position of power are tremendously far-reaching.”
Even though Gerhard was suspended from his position after the holidays, many have called for his resignation after the texts came to light.
“I want him to step down,” East Cleveland City Council President Juanita Gowdy said. “The Jews don’t deserve it. We don’t deserve it. Nobody deserves that kind of nasty behavior.”
According to Census data, the city of East Cleveland is mostly populated by Black people. Data reveals that 88 percent of the city is Black, and 7 percent is white.
