Local
The union representing the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) told the Free Press they are willing to negotiate for a civilian review board when negotiations for the next police union contract begin at the end of this year. However Janet Jackson, Chair of the Mayor's Community Safety Advisory Commission, told the Free Press she is concerned about how much opposition the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) brings to table when they negotiate what authority the civilian review board will have.
What the FOP Capital City Lodge #9 President Keith Farrell to this day is still shaking his head over, however, is the city had a chance to negotiate for a civilian review board three years ago.
“The city and the mayor had a chance three years ago to bring this to the table, but for whatever reason they did not,” Ferrell said. “We wanted to talk about it. We wanted them to bring this to the table. I was saying, ‘Let’s talk about it.’ The city had that opportunity. I honestly do not know why they didn’t.”
Thursday, June 4, at 4pm
North Broadway and High Streets
George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police on May 25, 2020. While being suffocated by an officer during a deadly arrest, he gasped out for his “mama”.
George Floyd is one of many Americans who lost their lives to police violence in our country and in our city. As mothers, we can only imagine the excruciating pain of loosing a child to police violence. On behalf of parents who lost their children and those children, we mourn with you and we gather in protest against the violent and racist police system that lead to their deaths.
Show your support at a peaceful children-friendly protest, brings signs for support of BLACK LIVES MATTER, wear a mask, bring drinking water, maintain social distance.
Tear gas has been known to cause miscarriage in pregnant people and is banned in war under the Geneva Convention, which are internationally agreed upon rules of warfare.
Despite this, local law enforcement agencies and the Ohio National Guard used tear gas in communities throughout Ohio as peaceful protests have supported the Black Lives Matter movement and called for justice for George Floyd and many others.
Late Tuesday afternoon when Mayor Ginther joined protesters near the Statehouse, several young African American self-appointed protest leaders – some barely out of their teens – approached him wanting to talk. The Mayor turned to them and one of the young African American protest leaders didn’t hesitate. He’s known for his icy confidence and at that moment it was coursing through his veins.
His name is “Jay Kay,” a 21-year-old who works in the kitchen of a local sports bar. He graduated from a Grove City high school in 2017 but could not find any reasonable way to raise tens-of-thousands for college and potentially start a career in media. His doesn’t come from privilege and far from it.
If you want to know the character and mindset of the young people who are peacefully protesting, get to know Jay Kay, who refused to offer his real name for safety reasons.
What sets him apart from many of the young protesters is what radically changed his soul at the onset of his teens. The shooting death at the hands of Columbus police of an older close friend who was popular in his former Hilltop neighborhood.
Tuesday, June 2, 12noon
Start at 1500 E Broad St.
This is a march and silent sit in. This is a peaceful protes. All other things will not be tolerated. Bring book bags with water and snacks. We will lock arms and protest the right way.
The Columbus Division of Police (CPD) was told last year by the Matrix Consulting Group that its directive allowing officers to use pepper spray against non-violent protesters should be “reviewed” because it allows “use of force without an aggressive act.”
“This directive and the subsequent use of force continuum, allow the use of a chemical agent on non-violent or ‘dead weight’ protestors. The use of force without an aggressive act is a low threshold for the use of chemical agents and contrary to practices in many large agencies (in Cincinnati, for example),” stated the Matrix Consulting Group in the early pages of its 300-plus page report, which was completed last summer.
The CPD directive in question states: “Sworn personnel may use their Division-issued chemical spray to disperse a non-violent congregation of violators who are not moving. Prior to deployment of the chemical spray, at least two notifications should be made to the participants in the crowd advising them that they are committing a violation of law and are to disperse, and that chemical spray will be used if they fail to comply with the order.”
President Michael V. Drake, Senior Vice President Jay Kasey, Vice President Dr. Melissa Shivers, Chief Kimberley Spears-McNatt, and Director of Public Safety Monica Moll,
June 1, 2020
Today, we write to you with extreme pain, disappointment, and anger. On May 25, 2020, an unarmed Black man by the name of George Floyd was violently killed under police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death, along with those of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade to name only a few, sparked nationwide protests in solidarity with the calls for justice on behalf of Black deaths in the hands of law enforcement. We, first and foremost, extend our solidarity to the people of Minneapolis and the communities mourning and fighting for justice across the nation. As student leaders, we also extend this solidarity to the students of the University of Minnesota and to their student body president, Jael Kerandi, for her leadership1 in her community during this time.
Monday, June 1, 4-6pm
North Broadway and High Streets
Hosted by First Unitarian Universalist of Columbus
Join the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus in peaceful witness as we Rally on the Side of LOVE! All are welcome! Another black man, George Floyd, has been killed by police, this time in Minneapolis, in an intentional and needless act of violence. We CANNOT, and we WILL NOT be silent!
We ask that you stay on sidewalks, social distance a minimum of 6 feet apart, and wear your masks. Bring your signs and banners: Black Lives Matter, Standing on the Side of Love, etc. Wear your bright yellow LOVE shirts, if you have them.