Austin Mayor Steve Adler raised ire after a purported photograph of him falling asleep during an Austin police officer’s funeral on Monday went viral, Austin-based media outlets reported.
The family and friends of the late Austin Police Department (APD) Senior Officer Anthony “Tony” Martin said goodbye to the longtime law enforcement veteran in a public ceremony at the Hill Country Baptist Church in Leander, Austin FOX affiliate KTBC reported.
Martin perished in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill last month while going home from work.
KTBC reported that APD officer and former Republican Texas House of Representatives aspirant Justin Berry took the picture of Adler, a Democrat, apparently in slumber.
Berry then tweeted out the image with the following message, “If you’re going to defund and destroy a police department as their mayor then attend a highly respected officer’s funeral, perhaps do not continue to disrespect that officer’s family, friends and other officers by falling asleep.”
Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that the picture and several others upset Martin’s widow.
“I have been trying to be the strong woman Tony would want me to be,” Amberlee Martin said in a statement that was shared by the Austin Police Association (APA) on Twitter. “But this Mayor Adler, was crushing … I am crushed.”
The Martins had two daughters, a son and a granddaughter together, according to the officer’s obituary.
KXAN reported that the mayor issued an apology to the family and reached out privately to Amberlee Martin.
“Officer Martin died 10 days ago and will forever be honored as a hero,” Adler said in a statement that was obtained by the station. “This moment should be about him and his family, including his two daughters whose words today pierced my heart as a father. I hold Officer Martin in the highest regard. May his memory be a blessing to his family, and to the city he served.”
