Crowd Maced After Downtown Protest Spills into Streets

Yesterday, we wrote about the Socialist Alternative protest in Downtown Columbus at the statehouse. The protest started around 6:30pm and nearly 2,000 marched to the Franklin County Courthouse.

The protest came directly after a press conference with Mayor Andy Ginther in which he declared to use his own executive powers to establish Columbus as a place for immigrants and refugees.

The major points of protest were Trump’s executive orders, cabinet member picks, minimum wage and the rights of the LGBTQ community.

According to various media outlets including NBC4i, FOX28 and the Dispatch — the police were uncomfortable with a small portion of the protesting group (allegedly only a few hundred of the previously mentioned 2,000) spilling into the streets of Broad & High. After donning gas masks, the officers allegedly told the crowd to disperse and if not – they’d be forced to use their mace.

These attempts and announcements failed to push the crowd back onto the sidewalks. The crowd was then maced before dispersing.

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