'Canvassing while black': Woman says neighbor called police on her for campaigning in gated community

Elise Solé
Social activist Amanda Kemp says a woman called the police on her for “canvassing while black.” (Photo: Facebook/Amanda Kemp)
Social activist Amanda Kemp says a woman called the police on her for “canvassing while black.” (Photo: Facebook/Amanda Kemp)

A couple campaigning for a Pennsylvania congressional candidate had the police called on them after visiting a gated community.

On Sunday, social activist Amanda Kemp and her husband, Michael Jamanis, were canvassing in the town of Manheim Township for Democratic congressional candidate Jess King, who is running in Pennsylvania’s 11th District.

The couple got permission from a security officer at the private suburban community Bent Creek to visit a specific house; however, the voter wasn’t home, so they decided to visit another homeowner. “As we approached a white woman with gardening shears called out to us. ‘What are you doing here? You can’t do that here,’” Kemp wrote on Facebook. “We walked onto her driveway to explain that we were canvassing for Jess King. She said, ‘I hate Jess King. She’s trying to take us to socialism. You can’t do that here.’”

Kemp said that the woman spoke in an “aggressive way in a loud voice” and then turned her attention to Jamanis. “She said to Michael, ‘I know you; you look familiar.’ … She said, ‘You can’t do that here. You don’t belong here. How did you get in here? I’m going to call the police. I’m going to take your picture.’”

Kemp claims the woman followed them down the street, writing, “She said, ‘I’m taking your picture.’ I said. ‘That’s fine.’ And then I posed with a smile and said, ‘We support Jess King.’”

Jamanis took the woman’s photo in return. “She said, “All of this is private property. You can’t be in here at all. I’m calling the police. She then started to dial,” wrote Kemp.

The couple left and alerted the campaign headquarters to what had occurred. Later, a police officer visited the couple at their home. “I told Michael to handle it because I did not want to talk to the police,” wrote Kemp. Jamanis showed the officer a photo of the woman who allegedly had harassed them. Representatives from the King campaign did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

Sergeant Michael Piacentino of the Manheim Township Police Department tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the incident was not a crime.

Kemp did not identify the woman in her Facebook post, but according to Harrisburg FM radio station WITF, her name is Elizabeth “Duffy” Johnson. She is a member of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County who campaigns for King’s opponent, Rep. Lloyd Smucker.

Neither Johnson nor her attorney Edwin Pfursich returned Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. Pfursich wrote in an email to WITF, “This matter is about trespassing. The volunteers from Jess King’s campaign entered private property and became aggressive. They were asked to leave and refused, so the police were notified.”

Jamanis and Kemp did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment. On Facebook, Kemp directed reporters to her official statement, a video for her five-day “Stop the Hurt Challenge” series, in which she says that “implicit racial bias” can often occur without including racial slurs.

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