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'You Don't Look Like a Legislator': Ohio Lawmaker Stopped by Statehouse Security

State Rep. Emilia Sykes was walking to work in the Ohio Statehouse last year with a fellow lawmaker when she was stopped by security. Officers needed to search her bag, she was told.

State Rep. Emilia Sykes was walking to work in the Ohio Statehouse last year with a fellow lawmaker when she was stopped by security. Officers needed to search her bag, she was told.

Sykes is serving her third year as a Democratic state representative from Akron. She is also a 32-year-old black woman. Her colleague, who was not searched, is a 65-year-old white man who has served in the Legislature for many years. 

Sykes said she questioned why her bag needed to be searched when that wasn't protocol. Lawmakers only need a badge to gain access to the Statehouse or the nearby Riffe Center, which houses many lawmakers' offices.

Her colleague told the trooper Sykes was a member of the Ohio House. 

She was told: "You don't look like a legislator." The trooper then clarified: "You look too young."

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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