Tom Loftus

@TomLoftus_CJ

FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Speaker Jeff Hoover has permanently banned Dan Seum Jr., the son of state Sen. Dan Seum, from the third floor of the Capitol Annex after a legislative staff investigation found the younger Seum had made “racially charged” remarks at the offices last month.

But Seum says the matter is a “terrible misunderstanding” that occurred when legislative staffers overheard him quoting a racist comment that he said he strongly disagrees with, but that he often cites to illustrate a history of discrimination against African Americans.

Seum is a director of Kentuckians for Medicinal Marijuana. His father is a Louisville Republican whose tenure in the General Assembly dates to 1982.

The flap stems from comments Seum made on Feb. 17 in the lobby of the third floor of the Capitol Annex, where House offices are located, while waiting to see a state representative about legislation relating to marijuana.

A letter sent to Seum recently by David Byerman, director of the Legislative Research Commission, said that while in the lobby, Seum “proceeded to engage in a racially-charged monologue.”

Byerman said in the letter, “Some of the offensive statements attributed to you include commenting that whites were afraid that ‘coloreds’ would have sex with white women, referring to African Americans and Latinos as ‘coloreds,’ and stating that white people were ‘scared of negroes.’ ”

An African-American employee of the legislature “within a few feet of you” was so offended that “she left her work station in distress,” Byerman wrote, and a second legislative staffer also reported being offended.

Byerman said that a staff investigation “substantiated the claims” that Seum had made offensive remarks, and the results of the investigation were taken to Hoover.

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Hoover “directed me to inform you that you are banned from the third floor of the Capitol Annex. This ban is unequivocal and permanent,” Byerman wrote.

Seum said in a phone interview Wednesday, “I’m an advocate for the African American. I’ve been advocating because of the disparaging numbers of African-American arrests in marijuana.”

He said that while he was talking with others while in the lobby to visit representatives, he quoted “an appalling comment” made by the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in the 1930s to illustrate a history of discrimination and stereotyping against African Americans regarding enforcement of marijuana laws.

“I was showing them how appalling this quotation was and how I’m fighting the unfair marijuana arrests for the African-American community,” Seum said. He said he and Kentuckians for Medicinal Marijuana frequently cite the quotation, but that the offended legislative staffers must not have understood the context.

"I really feel bad,” Seum said. “... It’s embarrassing; I’ve been going up there 30 years and I try to have respect.”

Seum said he was not interviewed as part of the legislative investigation, nor were other visitors in the lobby at the time, including his colleagues from Kentuckians for Medicinal Marijuana. He said he’s sent emails and made phone calls to Byerman and other top legislative staff officials to try to give his side of the story but has gotten no response.

“They gave us no due process,” Seum said.

Byerman, however, said on Wednesday that the investigation was aware of Seum’s side of the story. “We stand by our investigation,” he said.

Hoover, a Jamestown Republican, told reporters later Wednesday, that Byerman informed him of the complaint and later reported the findings of the investigation. "It was his (Byerman's) finding that the allegations were substantiated. And it was his recommendation to me as speaker that this person be barred from the third floor. And I accepted his recommendation," Hoover said. "That's the long and short of it."

Sen. Seum said he had no comment because he has not seen Byerman's letter nor has he spoken with his son about the matter.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at 502-875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com.