OHIO – Candidate for Ohio lieutenant governor son arrested for threatening to kill cops claims her son “needs treatment, not jail time.”
Tara Samples, an Akron City Councilwoman, is the running mate of gubernatorial candidate Dennis Kucinich.
After Facebook posts threatening police, Tara Samples son was taken into custody.
(Brian Newell)
The son of a candidate running for Ohio lieutenant governor, Brian Newell, was taken into police custody after the 24-year-old posted threatening messages on his Facebook page Saturday evening, according to a statement released.
Tara Samples campaign released a statement that her son, Brian Newell, 24, had been taken into “protective custody,” detention center records say otherwise, the records confirm he was, in fact, being held for having violated his probation conditions in relation to a heroin trafficking offense.
At least two of Newell’s Facebook posts directly threatened police officers.
Newell then posted a much broader threat.
“Okay its cool ima hurt all yall stay tf back or im blowing s**t back on God on my religion im smoking s**t today b***c im packing something long that remove the front of a n***a face back tf up,” the message read.
Newell’s posts threatening to kill police officers were discovered and reposted by Ohio Going Blue on Sunday.
“Akron City Councilwoman Tara L. Samples, seeing as how this post came from your Son, we are curious what your thoughts on this are,” the pro-law enforcement group said in its post. “Do you condone this type of behavior? How about you, Dennis Kucinich? Do either of you support the men and women who risk their lives daily for your safety?”
The Kucinich-Samples campaign on Sunday issued a statement about the arrest following the posts, in which they claimed Samples some Newell was “taken into protective custody after he suffered an emotional episode,” WJW reported.
“Brian, like all people with mental health and addiction issues, needs treatment, not jail time,” the statement read. “Many of us have a family member, or a friend, a co-worker, or an acquaintance who suffers from some kind of mental health problems, drug or alcohol addiction, dependence on medications, or behavioral issues. They need our help, our support, our encouragement, and our love.”
Samples campaign went on to slam those who criticized her son on social media following his posts that threatened to kill police.
“Instead of understanding and compassion, some people resort to recriminations and enmity,” the Kucinich-Samples campaign complained, noting that some of the comments ranged “from naïve, uninformed, and insensitive to mean-spirited, vulgar, vicious, hateful, threatening, and racist.”
The Plain Dealer reports Newell’s probation comes from a 2014 death of 23-year-old Julia Robbins, who overdosed on heroin and fentanyl where Robbins’ dealer informed police that he obtained the drugs from samples son.
Newell was also arrested on other heroin and cocaine trafficking charges which happened around three weeks before Robbins’ death.
According to Akron City Court records form 2012, Newell was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon, which he pleaded no contest to the offense of disorderly conduct.
Records also show charges were also dismissed for a 2014 drug paraphernalia and marijuana use offense.
Samples son’s criminal history includes another disorderly conduct charge, domestic violence, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and multiple warrants.
According to the Kucinich-Samples campaign, Samples is planning to admit her son to a treatment facility,
“The role of government should be to help people who need help – like Brian – and that will be the highest priority of a Kucinich-Samples Administration,” the statement read.