Browns: Police union president threatens to pull officers from Browns games over Isaiah Crowell’s post

The Browns may find themselves with no uniformed police officers in the stadium at home games this season as the city’s police union is threatening to be a no-show over an anti-police post on social media by one of the team’s players.

The police union is upset over an Instagram post last week by Browns running back Isaiah Crowell that depicted a police officer getting his throat slashed by a masked man.

Crowell has since apologized for the post, which came after days of public outcry over the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers and before the shooting in Dallas that left five officers dead and seven other officers wounded.

In an interview with TMZ on Tuesday, Stephen Loomis, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, termed Crowell’s actions a “store-bought apology” that doesn’t go far enough to heal the rift with police officers.

“He needs to go to Dallas, help the families who lost their loved ones last week, write them a check, look them in the eyes and give a heartfelt apology,” Loomis told the online publication.

According to TMZ, Loomis likened Crowell’s post to “putting a picture of historical African-American men being hung from a tree in the ’60s.”

Unless Crowell goes to Dallas and makes a donation, Loomis told TMZ that he “will pull Cleveland officers, sheriffs, state troopers out of FirstEnergy Stadium this season.”

Crowell has already met with Cleveland’s police chief and issued a public apology.

“Last week was an emotional and difficult week as we saw extreme acts of violence against black men across our country as well as against police officers in Dallas,” Crowell said in the statement that was distributed by the Browns this week. “I posted an image to Instagram in the midst of that emotion that I shouldn’t have and immediately removed it. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people.

“My values and beliefs do not match that image.”

The Browns have not responded to Loomis’ threat to have officers skip working security at the stadium.

The first preseason home game is Aug. 18 when the Browns host the Atlanta Falcons. The first home game of the regular season is Sept. 18 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.