EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the latest chapter of political dysfunction in East Cleveland, Police Chief Brian Gerhard is under fire following the release of text messages appearing to show him sharing racist, homophobic, and antisemitic memes.
3News obtained copies of the alleged messages in an email sent to us by area attorney Allison Hibbard, who is representing former East Cleveland Officer Demarkco Johnson in a separate criminal bribery case. While we have not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the messages, Mayor Brandon L. King confirmed to the Cleveland Jewish News Friday that Gerhard will be suspended from his post once he returns from vacation at the start of the new year.
"We have already talked to our legal counsel about starting an investigation," King told the newspaper. "We have a zero-tolerance policy for this and we will deal with it."
The messages in question were sent between 2019 and 2022, with many if not all dated prior to Gerhard's appointment as chief in the late summer of 2022. In the messages, a number linked to Gerhard's name is shown sending images containing, among other things:
- Stereotypically offensive caricatures of Jews.
- Memes featuring Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, including one declaring him to be "right about the Jews."
- Other antisemitic slurs and phrases such as, "American presidents are slaves to the Jews."
- Several anti-Black images, including at least one featuring the n-word and another of a police car with watermelons for wheels.
- Multiple homophobic memes, including an anti-LGBT quote purported to be from former Nazi SS Officer Klaus Barbie.
Claiming Gerhard "has a well-established reputation as a nazi-sympathizer and anti-Semitic, a racist, and a homophobe," Hibbard says she was compelled to share the texts following a quote from Michael C. O'Malley that stated, "The citizens of East Cleveland deserve to have a police department that serves the public and protects them." O'Malley had made the remark Wednesday following the conviction of Johnson for bribery and fellow former Officer Von Harris for bribery, forgery, and insurance fraud.
"The consequences of placing someone with these ideals in a position of power are tremendously far reaching," Hibbard said in a joint-statement issued with fellow attorneys Kimbery Kendall Corral and Gabrielle Ploplis. "Public awareness is essential to fully appreciate the harm caused to the citizens of East Cleveland and the people subject to Chief Gerhard’s power in his capacity as a high-level law enforcement officer."
The trial of Johnson and Harris is part of a sweeping effort by county prosecutors to root out corruption in the East Cleveland Police Department, with more than a dozen current or former officers being arrested for a variety of crimes. One of those officers was now ex-Chief Scott Gardner, leading to Gerhard's eventual appointment as his replacement.
Early on as the depths of the scandal became apparent, Gerhard was praised for his efforts to clean up the police force, with King calling him "the right person to rebuild this department and give confidence back inside and outside of this city." King now says he was not aware of the offensive messages when he made the decision to give Gerhard the top job.
"I'm finding out about it as many others are. I believe it was eight this morning I was made aware of this," King told the CJN. "I still have not physically seen any of the messages."
According to King, the mayor is required by law to hire the city's police chief from inside the department. He claims he has asked City Council to pass legislation abolishing that rule, but to no avail, a sign of the ever present tension between the chief executive and lawmakers.
Gerhard has not responded to WKYC's requests for comment.