COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Protesters came out Friday afternoon for a ninth-straight day to take part in demonstrations following the death of George Floyd. Non-profit leaders and their colleagues marched near City Hall earlier in the day demanding change and police reform.
The crowd grew steadily throughout the day with 2,000 to 3,000 people marching in Columbus, according to Columbus Police. Below is a two-minute time lapse of the protest from 6:45 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
This is what the crowd and scene looked like at 6:00 p.m.
“We should not have to be worried or fearful of the police,” one protester told NBC4. “We shouldn’t have to worry about looking over our shoulder when the police come or the police having their knee on somebody’s neck cause of course we can’t breathe … we’re just standing up. A lot of us are sick and tired and we don’t want to be sick and tired no more so now we’re speaking up.”
Also on Friday, Mayor Andrew Ginther, along with Columbus Division of Police Chief Thomas Quinlan held a news conference to provide an update to the community on the Columbus Community Safety Advisory Commission Report.
Chief Quinlan stated that almost two thirds of the Commission’s recommendations have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented. Progress is being made in the review all of the remaining – except for six, that fall outside of Chief Quinlan’s purview.
Completed recommendations include:
· Independent investigations of internal and external discrimination complaints
· Creation of community affairs/relations bureau and youth services unit
· Expanded access to language services
Recommendations in progress include:
· Cultural competency training
· Juvenile justice training and de-escalation with youth
· Continued Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), including for dispatchers
· Overhaul of Employee Action Review System of officers
· Continuation of Columbus Community Safety Advisory Commission to assure recommendations are completed.
A curfew is once again in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Columbus.
