TOLEDO, Ohio — A Lucas County sheriff's deputy is now terminated following two internal affairs investigations after he allegedly made inappropriate comments on social media and for comments he made while a Black woman was being booked into the Lucas County jail.
That sheriff's deputy, Sgt. Samuel Mysinger, was fired Monday over four rule violations.
In the first incident, a Facebook comment Mysinger made on his page thanked the FBI for draining the "black swamp" in the wake of the arrests of four Toledo City Council members on June 30.
The second incident was on Feb 1 and involved inappropriate comments made by Mysinger while working at the Lucas County jail. During his shift, a Black woman was being booked in the jail and she was naked in the cell. She had removed her jumpsuit but a female officer told her to put it back on.
The female officer told Mysinger that the woman had put her clothes back on and Mysinger said, "Good. Now we can stop watching the National Geographic show." The female officer made a complaint. Also during the same midnight shift, he cursed at two inmates, according to a detective who handled the case.
Mysinger was terminated for numerous rule violations stemming from the two investigations. He was determined to have broken rules on conduct unbecoming an officer, language, and on racial remarks or harassment.
"We don't want sheriffs or law enforcement to be painted with the same brush for those remarks. When you do things like that you put your fellow brothers at risk because you tie those remarks to everybody. So we don't want a spark to turn into a flame," said Ray Wood, President of the NAACP Toledo Branch 3204.
In the council case, Yvonne Harper, Tyrone Riley, Larry Sykes and Gary Johnson are charged with bribery and extortion in an alleged bribes for votes scheme.
According to an affidavit, the FBI started to investigate the council members in 2018 for soliciting or accepting cash, checks, money orders or other things of value from local business owners in exchange for their votes on city council.
Sheriff John Tharp said Monday, "Law enforcement is held to a higher standard. I felt termination was the right thing to do."
Mysinger once threw his hat in the ring to be the next Lucas County sheriff. On his campaign Facebook page, he outlined his platform on March 10 as wishing to accomplish the following:
"As Sheriff, I plan to meet with community religious leaders and perform risk assessments at each, Synagogue, Church and Mosque to ensure that citizens are safe during their times of worship.
"As Sheriff, I want to see a 20% increase in CCW permits county wide. Law abiding citizens have the right to defend themselves. Renewal of a CCW may require documented range time or completion of a gun safety course.
"Responsible gun ownership is a must. Families with small children will be given trigger locks to avoid tragedies.
"As Sheriff, I want to expand on Sheriff John Tharp's DART program to add three to four officers in an SVU role to combat Human and Sex trafficking. Lucas County is a hub for these despicable crimes against humanity."
After the primary, the Lucas County sheriff's race is now down to a choice between Mike Navarre and Brett Warner and Earl Mack.
The four council members are free on $50,000 unsecured bond. A fifth person named in the FBI investigation, Toledo attorney Keith Mitchell, is free on a $500,000 bond. He is accused of funneling bribes for Harper, who faces an additional charge of unlawful interstate communications with the intent to extort.