![]() The pain and frustration felt by activists and the Black community reached a new height this week. What the numbers say: Franklin County has one of highest rates of fatal police shootings in Ohio and the U.S. In all, since January 2020, there have been eight people killed in shootings involving Columbus and Franklin County police officers. ![]() It has been felt keenly in Columbus, where there were not only weeks of protests demanding systemic changes for equity, but also five people killed locally by Columbus police officers and a Franklin County sheriff's deputy since last May. In December, the city also agreed to pay $5.75m to people injured during the 2020 racial justice and police brutality protests.The deaths of Black people at the hands of law enforcement have sparked protests, legislation, cultural movements, criminal charges and more over the last year, since the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day 2020. Officer Adam Coy has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and is set for trial in November. In May of last year, Columbus reached a $10m settlement with the family of Andre Hill, a man who was shot dead in December 2020 as he emerged from a garage holding his mobile phone. “The reality is that felony warrants are executed every day in daylight hours,” he said, adding that he plans to file a civil lawsuit against Anderson and the city. In his remarks on Thursday, Elliott questioned the need for an early-morning operation. In such cases, “we are expressly forbidden from using 20/20 hindsight, because unlike all of us, officers are not afforded the luxury of armchair reflection when they are faced with rapidly evolving, volatile encounters in dangerous situations,” Collins said. The probe must look at “the totality of the circumstances”, Mark Collins, a lawyer representing Anderson, the officer who shot Lewis, said on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Ohio Bureau of Investigation has said it will investigate Lewis’s killing. Lewis, 20, was unarmed when he was fatally shot in the early hours of Tuesday In addition, a three-year police contract approved last year provided $200,000 buyouts for up to 100 officers with at least 25 years of experience, with a goal of clearing the decks of employees who might not be on board with the department’s new direction. The US Department of Justice agreed in 2021 to review Columbus police department practices after a series of fatal police shootings of Black people - including the April 2021 killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant - and the city’s response to 2020 racial justice protests. “How many more families like Donovan’s will need to appear at news conferences like this one before our leaders do enough to put a stop to these barbaric killings?” “How many more lives are going to be lost to this type of reckless activity? How many more young Black lives will be lost?” he said. “There can be no question that excessive deadly force was recklessly used by officer Anderson when he shot and killed an unarmed Black man,” Elliott said during a news conference. On Thursday, Rex Elliott, a lawyer representing the Lewis family said not enough has happened in Columbus to alter policing practices despite several instances of white officers in the city shooting Black people. ![]() The incident is the latest in a long string of unarmed Black people killed by police in the United States, many of which have spurred mass demonstrations demanding an end to deadly police violence and racial injustice. “In literally the blink of an eye, a Columbus Police Officer shot and killed Donovan Lewis, an unarmed young black man who was alone in his bed in the middle of the night.” It appeared that Lewis had a vaping device in his hand, and no weapons were found in the apartment, Bryant said. Police had a warrant to arrest Lewis on charges of domestic violence, assault and the improper handling of a firearm, the police chief also said. ![]() Less than a second passed between Anderson pushing open the bedroom door as a police dog barked before the officer fired a single shot into Lewis’ abdomen, Police Chief Elaine Bryant told reporters. Police in the US city of Columbus, Ohio have come under heavy criticism after the release of body-worn camera footage showing an officer fatally shooting a Black man in his bed during an attempt to serve an arrest warrant.ĭonovan Lewis, 20, was unarmed when he was shot in the early hours of Tuesday by Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, the Columbus Dispatch reported, citing a news conference by city police. ![]()
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