NYC Mayor exposed for lying about carrying fallen cop’s picture for 30 years: Report

Jack DavisJuly 8, 2023

A New York City Mayor’s Claim of Carrying a Photo of a Slain Police Officer for Years Exposed as Fake

A recent report has revealed that a photo of a slain New York City police officer, which Mayor Eric Adams claimed to have carried for years, was actually created last year.

According to The New York Times, city workers produced the photo during their working hours and manipulated it to appear old.

In January 2022, Mayor Adams mentioned Officer Robert Venable, an African American NYPD officer, following the deaths of two NYPD officers in Harlem.

“I still think about Robert. I keep a picture of Robert in my wallet,” he said.

Later, Mayor Adams presented the media with the photo he claimed to have carried for years, but The New York Times alleged that City Hall workers had created it after his initial comment.

According to The Times, an anonymous source revealed, “The employees were instructed to create a photo of Officer Venable. A picture of the officer was found on Google; it was printed in black-and-white and made to look worn as if the mayor had been carrying it for some time, including by splashing some coffee on it.”

The Times also reported that two unidentified City Hall aides confirmed their knowledge of the fake photo.

Fabien Levy, a representative of Mayor Adams, acknowledged that the photo shown to the media was new but maintained that Adams had indeed carried a photo of Venable for years.

“He was a very dear friend and it keeps me committed,” Mayor Adams said.

However, Venable’s daughter, Januari Venable, expressed surprise at the mayor’s claim, stating that she had never met Adams until this year.

“All I can say is that as far as being in his wallet or not, the fact that people still think of my dad all these years later — whatever the meaning behind it — it makes me thankful that he’s not being forgotten,” she said.

In a statement from the mayor’s office, Januari Venable contradicted her previous statement and praised Mayor Adams for his ongoing support.

“I was only eight when my father was murdered. I don’t remember most of the people who were there for my family, but in the 36 years since I lost my father, Eric Adams has been there, even after the cameras were gone,” she said.

“Eric personally drove me and my family to Fourth of July fireworks in the past, and when I called him at the last minute to attend a memorial for my father, the mayor was there,” she added.

Venable’s niece, Meredith Benson, expressed doubt regarding The Times’ report, emphasizing the close relationship between Mayor Adams and her family.

“If he needed a story, he had a story, right? He could just say ‘I was very close to, you know, Rob’s mother and supported her through his death and supported the family’ because that is 100 percent complete and true,” she said.

Following the publication of the report, Fabien Levy criticized The New York Times for exploiting the tragic murder of Robert Venable for the sake of scrutinizing Mayor Adams’ life.

“Over 30 years ago, after Officer Venable’s murder, then-Officer Adams made a copy of a photo published of Officer Venable from an NYPD Transit News Bulletin — a document he still has to this day. For decades, Mayor Adams has carried a picture of his friend who died in the line of duty,” Levy stated.

In response, a representative from The Times acknowledged that Adams and his aides did not deny the main point of their story, which was that the photo he showed to reporters and claimed to have carried for decades was indeed created by his aides to appear aged.