Right-wing protests are gushing, explains star OSU quarterback Justin Fields for the NFL draft and more from the MLK Day weekend
Much of the downtown area was boarded up in the run-up to the anticipated far-right protests at the Ohio Statehouse on Sunday. Some companies asked employees to avoid the area for the week leading up to January 17 and the days that followed. The precautionary measures followed the FBI’s warnings of right-wing violence against state houses across the country. Planned protests took place eleven days after a violent crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to overthrow election results and kill five in the U.S. process.
The recent round of protests went smoothly, with more reporters than protesters in some places. Here in Columbus, “The Dancing Trucker” got the most attention on social media as the protest attracted a small crowd of armed demonstrators and various counter-demonstrators, with shipping keeping the crowd in the 50s. (The protest largely thinned out and evaporated before the Cleveland Browns faced the Kansas City Chiefs, a playoff game the team heartbreakingly lost.)
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As expected, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields declared himself in favor of the NFL draft, where he will now fight for a top election. (Almost every mock draft has Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall, with Fields usually finishing either No. 2 on the New York Jets or No. 3 on the Jacksonville Jaguars.) Unsurprisingly, whoever takes over for Fields as QB at OSU next season will have a broad receiving position with the news that WR Chris Olave, who has been designated as the first round of voting, will be returning for his senior year.
Here is a full breakdown of the Buckeye players who signed up for the draft through shipping.
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On national news, record producer Phil Spector, convicted of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson, died in prison at the age of 81. Spector is often hailed for its branded production “Wall of Sound,” and leaves a legacy of horrific, uncontrolled abuse, much of it aimed at ex-wife Ronnie Spector. In one case he promised to show her dead body in a gold coffin with a glass lid, in case she ever left him.
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Speaking of toxic personas, today is officially the last full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, ending amid fears of right-wing violence, an uncontrolled pandemic and a botched vaccine launch. The Guardian has a solid look at not only the slaughter Trump left behind, but also the potential silver lining his presidency has uncovered, writing:
In tapping America’s identity, the president was inadvertently doing him a favor by bringing all of his inner tensions and tormented stories to the surface, making them far more difficult to deny. Arisha Hatch, vice president of the Color of Change activist group, said: “Trump’s four-year tenure resulted in tremendous suffering, but it will also be remembered as a time of race settlement, a time when racial justice finally became a time of majority.
“Trump will be remembered for exposing the flaws in our democracy that have kept us from achieving racial justice for decades. Trump was a symptom of many problems, not the cause. “
