A Federal judge has ruled that the Columbus police overdid it when they used force to handle nonviolent protestors last summer. The 26 protestors who were plaintiffs in the case were attacked with excessive force that included pepper spray, tear gas, sound cannons, batons and wooden bullets -- wooden bullets! -- during peaceful demonstrations.
What's more, the judge, Algernon Marbley, forbade the police from using similar tactics in the future. No flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, or body slams. No more broken cameras on police vehicles or body cams. No more harassment of clearly identified newspeople, paramedics, or legal observers.
No kettling either. That's when officers surround a group and slowly move closer until the protestors are trapped in a tight ring of police, like a school of fish caught in a trawler net.
Marbley called the case “the sad tale of officers, clothed with the awesome power of the state, run amok.” The opinion ran to 88 pages.
The injunction's timing was excellent, coming a few weeks after police gunned down 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant. While the girl seemed to be threatening another teen with a knife, her death added fuel to a simmering anger over police tactics.
The order also came shortly after Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and City Attorney Zach Klein asked the federal Justice Department to investigate the city's police. “Simply put," they wrote, "We need to change the culture of the Columbus Division of Police.”
It strikes us that the Columbus police were hardly the only cops using these tactics. Can you remember any other protests from the last five years where police greeted protesters with violence?
Have police used violent tactics on both left wing and right wing protesters?
Will police nationwide heed the orders of this Federal judge?
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/551391-judge-rules-columbus-police-cant-use-tear-gas-or-rubber-bullets-against?fbclid=IwAR3mJsYxHeEVL3ey-pAq1LGj2n8t4-L9jeZ2cmIGivPgSWztTE3wKBVSNT0&rl=1
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