A federal judge on Friday issued an injunction against Columbus police preventing them from using force against nonviolent protesters, and wrote that officials “ran amok” during protests in the city last year.
Algenon Marbley, Chief Justice of the Southern Ohio District, began his 88-page statement with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr .: “But somewhere I read about freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read about freedom of speech. Somewhere I read about freedom of the press I read somewhere that America’s greatness is the right to protest for rights. “
“Unfortunately, some members of the Columbus Police Department have been neglecting the rights secured by this fundamental principle of American democracy,” Marbley wrote. “This case is the sad story of policemen, wearing the incredible power of the state, running amok.”
The decision favored 26 plaintiffs who sued the city after participating in protests in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd by police last summer. The lawsuit alleges that during the peaceful demonstration, “officials were collectively punished by indiscriminately spraying pepper spray, gassing tears or shooting wooden balls”.
“What’s more, [officers] Sometimes it failed to give audible warnings or given sufficient time to disperse before resorting to less lethal force, “Marbley wrote.
Columbus officers are now prohibited from using these “non-lethal violence” methods against non-violent demonstrators, including body slams, lightning grenades, rubber bullets, batons and pressing against non-violent demonstrators, the judge ruled.
Nonviolent demonstrators include those who sing, verbally confront the police, and occupy streets.
The injunction also obliges officers to ensure that “body and vehicle cameras are in good condition and used whenever they interact with nonviolent protesters,” and that their ID numbers and ID cards are visible when interacting with protesters.
And officials must recognize that anyone displaying “press,” “media,” “reporter,” “paramedic,” “paramedic,” “law enforcement officer,” or similar words or symbols can record protests and help protesters to be seem hurt, the judge decided. In addition, anyone can record at a protest.
“Several witnesses have testified to the physical and emotional injuries suffered by CPD officials while exercising their basic rights to meet and protest,” Marbley wrote last year.
A man, a plaintiff, who was protesting peacefully, was hit by a projectile while police ordered protesters to disperse on video shows as ordered.
“In other words, the protesters didn’t have time to react,” said Marbley.
The 31-year-old man’s knee was “broken into many small pieces” and the judge ordered him not to walk for five months. He still cannot walk more than half a mile without “significant pain”.
Another woman who was looking for her 21-year-old daughter but refused to protest was sprayed twice with pepper despite telling officials that she just wanted to “find my baby,” she said, according to the judge’s order.
After being sprayed a second time, she sat on a sidewalk and yelled for help because she couldn’t see.
“She found that two officers in riot gear were approaching her. She hoped that help was finally on the way. Instead, CPD officers sprayed her again – this is the third time,” the document says.
Then she says that an officer stepped on her kneecap and said: “You will get that when you are down here, you black man who protests against b —-.”
The Columbus Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
A report commissioned by the city council and released earlier this week criticized both the police department and city leaders, saying Columbus was unprepared for the size and energy of the protests.
Mayor Andrew Ginther and District Attorney Zach Klein on Thursday requested a police investigation by the Justice Department into a series of police killings of black people and other controversy.
“This is not about any particular officer, policy, or incident. Rather, it is about reforming the entire police facility in Columbus, “said Ginther and Klein in their letter on Wednesday.” Put simply, we need to change the culture of the Columbus Police Division. “
The request follows April 20th 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was fatally shot. Bryant was black and the rookie officer who shot her was white. Police picked up a knife near the girl’s body after the shooting. In a body camera video, Bryant can be seen holding an object and another person appears to be swinging with it.
Tensions in Columbus were already high after the high-profile shootings Casey Goodson, Andre Hill and Miles Jackson in the past year.
Records show that black residents, about 28 percent of the population of Columbus, accounted for about half of all violence incidents from 2015 to 2019, according to The Associated Press.
Amid the controversy surrounding the shootings, Columbus The chief of the police division, Thomas Quinlan, resigned in January after a brief one-year term. Quinlan has also been criticized for his dealings with protesters. More than 14,000 people signed a petition demanding his resignation. Quinlan ordered officers to use tear gas and maces on protesters.
