An Oregon state representative is encouraging people to loiter at Clackamas Town Center after she says her teenage daughter was harassed and racially profiled by mall security for sitting in her car with friends in the mall lot Friday afternoon.

State Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas, said her 17-year-old daughter was in a parked car with two other friends, trying to decide what to do because they couldn’t get into an R-rated movie when one friend didn’t have a license with her to prove her age.

“They were in the car when a mall cop parked and walked up to them and said they were sitting too long and loitering. They didn’t even know what the word meant. But they knew they had been profiled. And for what???’’ Bynum wrote on her Facebook page Friday night.

The encounter occurred about 5 p.m., Bynum said. She said her daughter and friends were sitting in her silver 2004 Buick Century for about 10 minutes when the mall security officer parked, walked up to them and told them the mall had strict "no loitering'' policies.

By Sunday, Bynum urged others on Facebook to participate in what she called a week-long “loiter-in’’ at the mall for her daughter.

“Go see how long it takes to be asked to leave the mall by mall security. Sit in the food court, sit in your car on the phone, sit on the benches. Report your experience here,’’ Bynum wrote. “Let's figure out if there's a difference between loitering or being the wrong color.’’

Bynum wrote on her Facebook page that she’s in “data collection mode.’’

“And I’m also trying to make a point that looking for criminal activity can’t be targeted at certain people,’’ she wrote. “If we are going to have rules, they have to be applied fairly.’’

State Rep. Janelle Bynum created a Facebook page, urging others to loiter at Clackamas Town Center to see what happens to them after she said her daughter was racially profiled by mall security.Screen shot of Facebook page

Messages left for Clackamas Town Center management and security were not returned Sunday afternoon.

The mall’s code of conduct, according to its website, says that "excessive loitering" is prohibited and guests may be asked to leave if they don’t act responsibly. If guests don’t leave when asked, they could be charged with criminal trespass, it says.

Bynum said Dennis Curtis, the general manager of the mall, contacted her by email on Saturday, saying he’d like to discuss the matter with her daughter after he gathered more information.

Bynum said her daughter and her friends "were confused because they hadn’t done anything wrong and couldn’t understand why he chose to talk to them.'' Bynum’s daughter is a senior at La Salle College Preparatory High School in Milwaukie, an honor roll student and student ambassador, her mother said.

"I shared the story because the mall is a place of public accommodation where everyone should feel welcome,'' Bynum said.

A woman who said she works as a hair stylist at the mall commented on Bynum’s Facebook post, saying she was eating lunch in her car in the mall lot on Wednesday afternoon when a mall security officer drove up along her Infiniti, rolled down his window and asked, “Whatchu got goin on?’’

“I was taken a bit back because of how ‘tough’ he was coming off towards me,’’ wrote Arjorie Arberry-Baribeault, who is also African American. She told him she works at the mall and was eating lunch. He then drove off. She said she didn’t think much of it until she learned of Bynum’s post.

The parking lot of the Clackamas Town Center has become a common spot used for interstate drug deals, according to federal court records filed after police last week seized a large stash of heroin that officers said was sold by a California woman to a Washington man in the mall lot.

Someone on Bynum’s Facebook page pointed out the recent Oregonian/OregonLive story on the heroin bust. Bynum responded that she never received a briefing from mall representatives or from police about such drug dealing in the mall lot. "These are the real threats we should be looking for. Not unfairly targeting teens,'' Bynum responded.

Across the river, Vancouver police reported an attempted kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl from the Vancouver Mall on Saturday.

Last summer, Bynum gained national attention after a constituent reported her to 911 as looking suspicious while she was canvassing in a Clackamas neighborhood on July 3, 2018. The Clackamas County deputy who responded immediately realized nothing was wrong, and at Bynum’s request, arranged for the state representative to speak with the 911 caller.

A bill sponsored by Bynum and two other African American legislators passed last session and was signed into law by the governor that would allow victims of bogus 911 calls to take the caller to small claims court and seek up to $250 in damages. The law becomes effective Jan. 1.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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