COLUMBUS, OH – One week ago I was physically assaulted in a public place, prior to a press event, by a high-ranking City of Columbus official. But, because I do not know the man’s date of birth, I was not allowed to file charges.
This happened on the morning of April 28th, at the Columbus Police Training Academy, where I went to attend what I thought was a public event. Department of Neighborhoods Director, Carla Scott Williams, greeted me as I took a seat. Within a minute, a man wearing a blue sports jacket approached me and said, “Mr. Motil, could you please step outside for a moment.” I followed, and as we stepped outside the doors of conference Room 104, he told me, “You are not allowed to be in there. This is a press event, and you do not have press credentials.”
I argued that I was in a public place for a public event. He disagreed, took me by the arm and pulled me farther away from the closed doors of the meeting room. An officer who arrived shortly afterward agreed with the man in the sport jacket that I was not permitted to re-enter. Asking the man twice to identify himself I was told, “Glenn McEntyre.”
That name rang a bell, so when I got back home I did a Google search and found him to be the city of Columbus Assistant Director of Public Safety/Public Information Officer. On Sunday, April 30th, I tried to file a misdemeanor assault complaint against Mr. McEntyre. A police officer came to my home, took my information and left me with a report number (230313740).
Imagine my surprise when I went the prosecutor’s office Thursday morning to formally file the charge. A clerk told me that the officer who had taken my report, Keith G. Conner (Badge #1300), did not consider the incident to constitute an assault. Per city code, an “Assault” requires “knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm.” And, the clerk added, that I would also need my assailant, Mr. McIntyre’s date of birth, which I did not have.
No, this wasn’t a serious crime. But it was an assault, nonetheless, on a private citizen who was minding his own business at a City of Columbus event that should have been open to the public. And it could have happened to anyone. Yesterday, I wrote to Public Safety Director, Kate McSweeney-Pishotti, and the Columbus Human Resources Department requesting them to investigate the actions of Mr. McEntyre (see attached complaint). Citizens should feel safe to enter public buildings in our city without fear of being accosted by unidentified city officials.
Just because you are an overpaid bureaucrat doesn’t give you the authority to unlawfully put your hands on someone. Assistant Public Safety Director McEntyre has a history of acting like an uncivilized wannabe bodyguard for the mayor while protecting Ginther from legitimate media and Columbus taxpayers. It has even been rumored that McEntyre has overreached his authority on deciding when and who should receive public records requests.
Columbus needs a mayor who is going to clean house and end corruption, lack of transparency, holding public officials accountable, and our authoritarian city government.
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