COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dozens of protesters gathered Saturday morning outside the home of Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther.
The demonstration is one of the many protests that have taken place across central Ohio in the past several weeks calling for social justice reform.
The protest outside Mayor Ginther's house was organized by the Black Queer & Intersectional Collective and the Columbus Freedom Coalition.
Protesters discussed several demands they have for Columbus officials, including the resignations of Mayor Ginther and Columbus Division of Police Chief Thomas Quinlan, the removal of monuments considered to be racist and an end to qualified immunity.
Mayor Ginther issued the following statement to 10TV:
“I am committed to the racial justice and police reform protesters seek. We’ve made progress in the last two weeks: banning tear gas to disperse crowds, changing police use of force policies, demanding independent investigations of police involved shootings and committing to stand up a Civilian Review Board. We’re not done, and our work to eliminate systemic racism goes beyond police reform. We remain focused on our Equity Agenda: addressing racism as a public health crisis, increasing affordable housing, and creating good paying jobs. I ask protesters to join me in the hard work to combat racism and make lasting, meaningful change in the days and weeks ahead.
I am not in favor of defunding or abolishing the police. We must make changes in how we police, but they play an important role in keeping neighborhoods safe.”
People around Ohio and across the country have been protesting following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks.
