Austin Mayor Apologizes After Falling Asleep At Officer’s Memorial Service

The mayor of Austin, Steve Adler, has apologized after a photo circulated of him seeming to be asleep during the memorial service of a police officer who died last month in a motorcycle crash.

Here’s that photo…

Adler apologized for the photo but did not go so far as to admit he was actually sleeping.

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Mayor Adler’s statement:

I want to express my deepest apologies to the family of Officer Martin. This moment should be about him and his family…I hold Officer martin in the highest regard. May his memory be a blessing to his family, and to the city he served.

Officer Tony Martin died last month in a motorcycle crash while off duty.

 Adler, a Democrat, has been called “anti-police” and a “defund the police guy” by his opponents and critics.   Here’s what Austin officer Justin Berry who Tweeted the photo said:

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….by falling asleep.

While Adler didn’t admit to being asleep during the service, he didn’t deny it either. And it would be so easy to deny.  He could have said he was “praying” or “meditating quietly”. Unless he was snoring, how would anybody know, right?

Also, I don’t know if Berry was the person who took the pic but WHOEVER it seemed to have stopped, knelt to get good, and PUT ADLER IN FRAME before snapping the shot. Isn’t taking pics for your Twitter during a memorial service ALSO kind of disrespectful?

Steve Adler, who was elected mayor of Austin in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, also has El Paso ties.  Adler helped El Paso Democrat Eliot Shapleigh in his 1996 run for the Texas State Senate. He then served as Shapleigh’s chief of staff and general counsel from 1997 to 2005.