Mayor Cranley's office inadvertently honors killer of Officer Sonny Kim

Show Caption Hide Caption Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley's emotional apology Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley on Thursday night emotionally apologized to the police union after a proclamation "mistakenly" had been issued in honor of a man who killed Officer Sonny Kim nearly two years ago.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley on Thursday night emotionally apologized to the police union after the city "mistakenly" issued a proclamation in honor of a man who killed Officer Sonny Kim nearly two years ago.

The father of Trepierre Hummons posted a proclamation on Facebook declaring June 1 as "Tre Day," prompting Cranley to issue an apology letter to the Fraternal Order of Police. Cranley's office also sent a letter to Ronald Hummons officially retracting the proclamation.

Cranley, who's been a strong supporter of law enforcement, was visibly broken during a press conference standing alongside FOP President Dan Hils at the police union hall in Over-the-Rhine.

This was seen on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/gEra9l9Ysw — Sharon Coolidge (@SharonCoolidge) May 18, 2017

"This was a huge mistake," Cranley said. "It's not done intentionally. It's human error, but the buck stops with me."

"I love our police department," he said, breaking down in tears. "I would never do anything to hurt them."

Cranley paused.

"I'm sorry," he said.

The mayor added he has called Kim's widow to apologize. In addition to the letter, Hils said, the mayor "apologized to me personally."

The release of the proclamation comes one day before fallen officers are set to be honored in the city. It also comes in an election year -- and on the heels of Cranley's crushing loss to City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson earlier this month.

Simpson declined comment.

News of the proclamation first broke on the FOP's Facebook page around 6:30 p.m. Thursday with an officer posting a photo of the proclamation. The officer posted: "Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?"

Another officer then posted: "If this is real, something must be done ... I'm having trouble finding the words."

The mayor's office receives several proclamation requests from citizens each week. Cranley doesn’t see them all; instead the requests filter through the mayor's press office. In this case, Cranley explained in a letter to FOP President Dan Hils that last week the mayor's office received a request to issue a proclamation from Ronald Hummons for his “son’s birthday.”

The wording discussed child abuse and fighting mental illness and never mentioned TrePierre’s last name. A staffer drew up the proclamation and it was approved by Cranley’s Deputy Chief of Staff Holly Stutz Smith. A stamp was used for the mayor's signature.

“Neither of them looked further into the context of the proclamation,” Cranley said in the letter.

Hummons made the request to the mayor’s office, but when he didn’t immediately hear back, he reached out to City Council candidate Tamaya Dennerd and then Councilman Wendell Young’s aide, Melanie Ervin.

Dennard had helped Hummons with a proclamation for his business several years ago, when she was Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld’s aide. Dennard no longer works at City Hall and suggested maybe Young could help.

“I told him I don’t know if they’ll do it, you can try,” Dennard told The Enquirer. “His son suffered mental illness, battled depression. It’s tough. Officers put their lives on the line. Two people died that day. Ronald lost his son, too. He wanted to memorialize his son.”

The Enquirer has seen an email from Hummons to Ervin sent on May 11, in which he says “My name is Ronald, friend of Tamaya, father of Trepierre Hummons. She gave me your email to see if you could help me with a proclamation I applied for for my son… My team and have done some incredible work on behalf of the foundation I've set up for him and with his birthday coming up I was hoping to get it to celebrate the impact that we're having on mental health. I haven't gotten a response back from the mayors office about it but I did ask Tamaya to help do (sic) to the sensitivity of it.”

Young said he was not aware of the request.

“I do not know Mr. Hummons nor did I know his his son, but I certainly knew Sonny Kim and there is no way that I would assist with a proclamation for a cop killer,” Young said.

He added: “Whatever is going on in John’s office is his problem, but I would think they would routinely vet all their requests. Had they done that, I believe they would not have issued that proclamation.”

Kim was gunned down June 19, 2015, in a Madisonville street after police said Hummons lured the officer there with two 911 calls. The 48-year-old father of three wasn't supposed to be on duty when he was fatally shot, but he'd been tapped to work overtime because the city was combating an uptick in crime.

After being shot by Hummons and falling to the ground, Kim struggled with Hummons, who eventually wrestled the officer's semi-automatic handgun from his hands. Hummons, 21, began shooting at a Hamilton County probation officer who had stopped to assist. Another Cincinnati police officer pulled up and shot and killed Hummons.

His prior behavior indicated he intended to commit "suicide by cop," police said.

Kim was the first Cincinnati police officer killed in the line of duty since 2000.

Speaking at Kim's funeral at Xavier University, Cranley called the shooting of the officer an act of evil.

"We have a lot of questions for God today," Cranley said then. "Our faith is being tested. Why did the good guy lose?"

Public safety has been among Cranley's top priorities since he was elected in 2013. He has added more than 150 new police recruits and increased the sworn force by more than 100 officers. Cranley was endorsed by the FOP in 2013 and was again ahead of this month's primary.