State rep wants civil-rights look at security detail

The State Highway Patrol found that security personnel acted properly when a black female state lawmaker was stopped at least three times as she attempted to enter the Statehouse or a nearby government office building.

Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, filed a complaint with security officials and then, following what she said was an unsatisfactory meeting with Highway Patrol leaders, filed a complaint in late June with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

“Whatever it is about me, I look like I’m not supposed to be there,” she said at the time, noting that her race and gender were the only obvious reasons she was being stopped.

The patrol did order two officers to undergo counseling for failing to properly handle Sykes’ complaint, but did not find fault with their actions.

“It is not a surprise that when they do an investigation on themselves, they find nothing wrong,” Sykes said. That, she said, is why she filed the civil-rights complaint — she wants an independent look at the situation.

A summary of the investigation says that Sykes was asked to run her bag through a screening device in September 2017 when her badge did not work. That, the report said, is standard procedure.

Security officer LaTisha Figg told investigators that neither she nor two others working the checkpoint that day recognized Sykes, and said she did not identify herself as a lawmaker.

Figg, expressing a sentiment shared by other security officers interviewed, said the racial discrimination issue is “bogus,” noting that three women were working security that day, and two were black.

The report also mentions a May 30, 2018 incident, saying that Sykes “was neither chased nor prevented from entering the secured area” on that day, after security asked to see her badge as she passed guards in the Riffe Center.

The officer, Jake Fredendall, told investigators that he didn’t know Sykes and asked to see her badge because it was on her shoulder opposite from where he was standing. He had to ask twice, he said, because he didn’t see the photo. As she walked by, Sykes he said, she remarked, “you gotta be kidding me.”

Sykes said she also was stopped in February 2016 while entering the Statehouse and was told her bag needed to be searched, even though she had her proper legislative badge.

“I showed him my badge again. I also pointed to my lapel pin and I said, ‘I don’t understand why you need to search me,’” Sykes told the patrol.

She explained the incident to House Sergeant-at-Arms Dan Lay, saying the trooper on duty said he stopped her because she looked too young to be a legislator.

Trooper Patrick Townsend told investigators that he was working the security checkpoint that day with two new officers who did not recognize Sykes and stopped her, though he quickly told them she was fine to pass.

The patrol investigation “did not reveal unprofessional conduct or bias,” said a summary of the report.

But Sykes was concerned her complaint was not properly addressed at the time, and the investigation found that was valid. On Wednesday, Lt. Timothy Karwatske, the Statehouse commander at the time, and Staff Lt. Edward Mejia were ordered to complete counseling for failing to properly handle the complaint.

Sykes’ Civil Rights Commission complaint remains under investigation, and she wants it to go to mediation. She said her goal is not to get anyone in trouble, but to find solutions to what she says is a bias problem.