TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held a press conference Friday afternoon, calling on fair treatment for the four city council members and a local attorney recently arrested and accused of bribery and extortion.
Democratic council members Larry Sykes (At-Large), Yvonne Harper (District 4), Gary Johnson (At-Large) and Tyrone Riley (District 1), as well as local attorney Keith Mitchell, are all facing federal charges for their role in an alleged bribes-for-votes scandal that dates back to 2013.
Organization leaders said they want to remind Toledoans that the accused are innocent until proven guilty and that they want to ensure there is fairness in the process.
“People think what they want to think, hear what they want to hear, they believe what they want to believe. I would just want to let them know our decision and I would let them know innocent until proven guilty, that has to stand," NAACP local chapter president Ray Wood said.
A statement was released Friday ahead of the presser, which read:
"The recent arrest of four African American city council members and an attorney was very troubling to our community. These individuals play a major role in our political landscape. We have heard several statements from city officials, political party leaders an“People think what they want to think, hear what they want to hear, they believe what they want to believe. I would just want to let them know our decision and I would let them know innocent until proven guilty, that has to stand.” d others. Historically, the NAACP was founded on protecting the rights of people. The Toledo Branch of the NAACP firmly stands on the fact that these individuals are innocent until proven guilty and deserves what all American citizens deserve, and that is fair due process of the law.
We stand in support of that process. We want to ensure that there is fairness and that any decisions to resign are their personal decisions. The citizens of Toledo elected the four councilmembers to their positions. No vote of any other body should remove them. We stand in support of all the good that these individuals have done in our community. we are asking the community to unite with the NAACP, the NAACP Ohio State Conference. From our research there have been similar incidents involving people of color in the following communities: Cincinnati, Dayton, and Los Angeles County. We plan to closely monitor this ongoing investigation."
When asked if they would be pushing for minority leaders in the community to take the vacant seats should the council members decide to resign, leaders said they didn't want to get ahead of that decision. They will make those announcements and recommendations if those individuals make the decision to step down and not until then.
“I don’t know the facts I’ve read some of the charges, but my understanding is that there’s an investigation going on and so you know, I don’t want to get out ahead of any work that’s being done," Wood said.
Friday's conference took place outside of the African American Legacy Project at 1326 Collingwood Blvd. in Toledo.