Report: Ohio capital unprepared for protests' size, energy
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's capital was unprepared for the size and energy of protests last year over racial injustice and police brutality, according to a report released Monday that also found most police officers felt abandoned by city leadership during that time.
Columbus — Ohio's largest city — had no advance plan for handling such protests, and suffered from a lack of coordination and even regular communication among city leaders once the protests began, the report said.
“In fact, some community members who participated in this study reported thinking that city leaders were actively at odds over how to respond to the protests,” according to the report.
The $250,000 review was commissioned by the Columbus City Council and conducted by former U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart and Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs.
At issue was the city's response to protests that began in late May after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who last week was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Columbus protests lasted multiple days downtown, near Ohio State, and across other parts of the city. The first night, protesters smashed windows at the Ohio Statehouse and at businesses throughout downtown.
In a separate episode, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty was hit by pepper spray as scuffles broke out near the end of a May demonstration.
A federal lawsuit filed in July on behalf of more than two dozen protesters seeks monetary damages for injuries sustained in clashes with police.
The lawsuit describes peaceful demonstrators and bystanders being beaten, fired on with wooden and rubber bullets, and unlawfully arrested during protests in late May and June.
Yet at...