Investigator: Suburban mayor lashes out at his own police force

EAST CLEVELAND -- Days before a primary election decides the outcome of the mayor's race in East Cleveland, shocking and disturbing photos, allegedly of incumbent Mayor Eric Brewer, are being circulated in the community, The Investigator Tom Meyer has learned.

Channel 3 News has obtained nearly four dozen graphic and some times X-rated photos of a man that sources say is Brewer.

In some photos, the man is in seductive poses, wearing women's lingerie, a wig and lipstick.

At a news conference today, Brewer refused to say if he was the individual being photographed.

"While I am not and will not authenticate any of the pictures, since it appears as if they and the e-mails my opponent has caused to distributed are personal in nature, the fact is they are embarrassing to our city," Brewer said.

Instead, he accused his opponent in next week's mayoral election, City County President Gary Norton, and city police officers of distributing the photos in the community.

Brewer said city police are retaliating after he called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate accusations that city police officers are racists and bullies.

Brewer said he's already contacted the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department about accusations that officers have assaulted suspects in handcuffs, filed false charges, hurled racial slurs and ripped off peoples' property. He also listed a number of officers he's fired for police misconduct.

"It is understandable that East Cleveland's Fraternal Order of Police have endorsed my opponent," Brewer said. "Many are rogue cops who know he is far too weak to hold them accountable."

Is this gutter politics? His challenger, Norton, says he's seen the photos and has no doubt they are of Brewer. But, Norton said, neither he nor his staff had anything to do with passing the photos around the city. He said any number of people could be responsible for passing them around.

"He's made a lot of enemies along the way," Norton said. "I don't like the fact that anyone passed these out."
Norton said he doesn't believe the photos should be an issue in the hard-fought campaign.

"There are big issues in East Cleveland and I don't want these photos to serve as a distraction to problems that face our residents," Norton said.

Scott Gardner of the East Cleveland Police Union also denied the union or its members had "anything to do with the dissemination of any of the obscene photographs alleged of Mayor Brewer."

Gardner added that officers work "long and hard, day and night to police aggressively for a safer and more warming community" and that they "will continue to police with professionalism and courtesy as well as investigate complaints against abuse through authority."

Most voters that Channel 3 News spoke with were shocked at the photos, but a number said that what someone does behind closed doors is his or her own business and should not impact an election.

The mayor also took shots at Channel 3 News for showing photos he called obscene and for failing to reach out to him about the photos.

"I do not recall receiving any telephone calls, e-mail messages letters or faxes from Tom Meyer seeking confirmation from me about the news story he crafted that WKYC chose to broadcast."

However, Channel 3 News called Brewer on his personal and city cell phones and also went both to City Hall and his campaign headquarters, telling his staff exactly what we wanted. We also spoke with Acting Mayor and Finance Director Ron Brooks, who said he spoke with Brewer about our request and that Brewer said he would issue a statement.

The statement was sent, but it went to a general station e-mail box that normally receives hundreds of news and programming comments. In the statement, Brewer did not address our questions about the photos or where they came from. He did speak about the passing of his father yesterday and his wish for privacy.

Read Mayor Brewer's full response HERE (PDF)

Read the East Cleveland Police Union's full response HERE (PDF)