Former Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown’s decision to move further to the left with his messaging on policy could end up being a huge mistake that comes back to haunt him as he seeks to return to the upper chamber of Congress in November, according to law enforcement officers in the Buckeye State. Brown served three terms in the Senate before being ousted in 2024.
Now, Brown is trying to boot GOP Sen. Jon Husted from his seat. Husted was appointed to take over the vacant seat of Vice President JD Vance, who occupied it before he joined President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign which went on to win the White House. Law enforcement personnel in Ohio stated while Brown might present himself as being moderate, recent comments that he’s made indicate he’s seeking the approval of the far-left, especially on the issue of crime.
“Law and order should be at the top of everyone’s mind these elections. It’s what drives society. It’s what makes people feel safe. It’s something that affects everyone,” Eric Delbert, a sergeant for 32 years in a central Ohio suburb, said in comments delivered to The Daily Caller. Delbert then claimed that, while Brown has created a centrist, pro-working class persona that “sounded good,” he’s “failed law enforcement” in the years since the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots.
The report then said that the sergeant shined a spotlight on a post published by Brown in April 2021 on social media platform X stating that Columbus police “shot and killed a sixteen-year-old girl.” However, by the time the post went live, publicly released body camera footage showed that the girl, Ma’Khia Bryant, lunged at two women with a knife and resisted calls to “get down.”
This prompted Columbus Police Department Officer Nicholas Reardon to shoot and kill her. Brown’s post also included a link to a Columbus Dispatch story that showed a still from body cam footage that depicted Bryant threatening a woman with a knife. The woman was being held against the hood of a car. A spokesperson for Brown issued a response to the criticism.
“Sherrod proudly stands with Ohio law enforcement and will always fight to ensure Ohio law enforcement officers have the resources and the benefits they deserve and have earned,” the statement read. Brian Steel, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Capital City Lodge #9, said that members of his organization “were very upset that [Brown] would make that tweet, especially not knowing the facts and laying the blame on the police officer.”
Steel added that Brown “has been asked to answer that many times,” saying, “we don’t expect ever a formal apology.” He then said, “I think he knows that that was maybe got caught up in the moment. And the important part is, since then, he has not done anything like that.” The Ohio FOP opted not to support a candidate in 2024, despite having supported Brown during his reelection bid in 2012.
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A spokesman for the state’s FOP said the lack of an endorsement at the time was due to Brown’s post. “It came down to a tweet. There was a shooting here, and Sherrod, instead of taking time to listen and talk to us and understand the situation, did what all these people do now and got on his phone,” the spokesman explained.
The Ohio FOP has once again opted not to support a candidate in midterm elections later this year. “He [Brown] could have said, in those circumstances, ‘Hey, look, this is a tragic event. We need to let the let it play out and let the investigation play out,” Delbert went on to tell the Daily Caller. “But no, he jumped on the bandwagon with a lot of these politicians, and he made some really hurtful statements from a politician of his nature towards these officers.”
“It is crazy how cut and dry anyone, regardless of your political affiliation, regardless to any preconceived notion of law enforcement, would look at that video and say, ‘Oh, my God, that officer just saved someone’s life,’” the sergeant continued, making a reference to the body cam footage of the incident. “Happened to be a life of another black person.”
Steel noted that many Ohio residents support law enforcement, saying, “And I think many public officials, turned their back on us in 2020 following the civil unrest. And I think they saw how wrong that was, and a lot of them really took a hit on the chin from that. So, it’s almost like the Democratic Party is coming back, trying to win our support again and our trust.”
Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick spoke with the Daily Caller and had high praise for Husted, saying that he “doesn’t just submit a bill or partner on a bill that he thinks will help law enforcement. Before he [Husted] does any of that, he speaks to us in law enforcement and asks our opinion, and he ensures that he’s doing what’s right for law enforcement as a whole. And he does that by contacting us, speaking with us, meeting with us.”