Alleged racial profiling riles GOP

Legislative hopeful says she was halted by troopers while campaigning in Middlefield

“I’m appalled by what she experienced. Everyone in this country has the undeniable right to run for office regardless of race, gender or ethnicity.” House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby

The Rev. Ernestine Holloway is waiting for apologies.

Her dream of becoming a state representative has been deflated by multiple stops by state police troopers as she has campaigned on the streets of Middlefield and Middletown.

“I should be judged by the merit of what I do, not the color of my skin. I am angry because this has always been a dream of mine,” Holloway, who is black, said on Friday. “This is the first time that I have actually had joy in a long time... so why can’t I achieve the American Dream like everybody else?”

On Oct. 24, Holloway and a team of about 10 volunteers, mostly African-Americans, were knocking on doors in the district, which is about 80 percent white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A van of Holloway’s volunteers was stopped by at least one police vehicle and asked what they were doing in Middlefield.

When Holloway arrived at the scene moments later, she was told by state Trooper Larry Morello that she needed a peddler’s permit to campaign.

Holloway ceased her door-to-door effort and went to Town Hall to see whether a permit was required. It was not.

Morello was a driver for the campaign of Susan Bysiewicz, the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee.

“That’s racial profiling,” said Holloway, who is challenging veteran state Rep. Emil “Buddy” Altobello.

“Then he knew that I didn’t need a permit.”

Bysiewicz said she fired Morello, whom she characterized in a statement Thursday as an “occasional volunteer driver.”

But Holloway’s trouble with the state police did not stop there, she said. On Oct. 25, another trooper asked Holloway if her car had broken down when she stopped at a house to campaign. Holloway claims the officer saw her park the vehicle. When she started to say “not again,” he drove off, she said.

“I’ve spoken to Ernestine, and I’m appalled by what she experienced,” said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, in a statement Thursday. “Everyone in this country has the undeniable right to run for office regardless of race, gender or ethnicity, and all candidates must be allowed to do what is necessary to run a campaign without fear as they express their ideas to residents they hope to serve.”

The state police, through a spokesman, asserted that a thorough investigation of the incident will be done.

Dora Schriro, the commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, which oversees the state police, personally called Holloway to respond to the incident, said Kelly Donnelly, spokeswoman for the governor’s office. Holloway said she received no such call.

The police will have to investigate whether the incident constitutes racial profiling, said J.R. Romano, chairman of the state Republican Party.

“This definitely is a situation where the state police have to take stock,” said Romano. “This is unfortunate. I have never heard of this before where a candidate has to go get a peddler’s license.”

Theresa Tillett, of Windsor, was the treasurer for Holloway’s 2017 mayoral campaign and discussed the incident with her.

“It is very clearly a case of driving while black,” Tillett said. “She’s had people say things. It’s despicable that here it is 2018 and we are still dealing with racism.”

Bysiewicz said she was “deeply disturbed” by the incident.

“As the former Secretary of the State, I believe in fair and open elections, and I have zero tolerance for any group or person who would hinder our democratic process,” she wrote. “As soon as the details were shared with me, we severed ties.”

Holloway said she was disappointed she has not received a personal apology from Bysiewicz, nor have Republicans — though eager to denounce the event to the press — come to see how she and her team are holding up. The incidents have hindered her campaign in the week before the election because her volunteers do not feel safe campaigning, she said.

Holloway believes her identity as a Republican is part of the problem.

“If you’re black and you are not Democrat it is a problem,” she said. “Up North they haven’t seen too many African-Americans who are conservative. Being a candidate has been really hard.”

News of the incidents follow reports earlier this week in Middletown that a Republican running for the state Senate distributed a mailer depicting a Jewish legislator greedily holding fistfuls of $100 bills. The mailer, which targeted Democratic state Rep. Matt Lesser, has been widely denounced as anti-Semitic.

The mailer was sent by Republican Ed Charamut. Lesser and Charamut are competing for the Senate seat vacated by Paul Doyle, who competed in a Democratic primary for attorney general. The district comprises Rocky Hill, Newington, Cromwell and parts of Middletown and Wethersfield.

Holloway