Columbus police dispute accusations they Maced double amputee, took his legs

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Following an Ohio protest that turned violent on Sunday, Columbus police officers have been accused of pepper-spraying a double amputee and taking his prosthetic legs so he couldn’t get away.

Video released by authorities in the aftermath paint a different picture of what happened during that protest downtown. A reporter from NBC 4 in Columbus reported that police officials said the protest became violent after a protester threw a scooter at police.

Footage from that same NBC 4 reporter shows officers using bicycles to ram protesters. At least two officers are seen in the footage pulling pepper spray from their bags and spraying the crowd.

The story of the injured protester gained traction Sunday afternoon when footage of the incident ended up on Reddit, where the poster bitterly criticized the police.

“CPD just hit and Maced a double amputee,” the poster, who goes by the moniker meanmrbadger, wrote. “Bravo, you heroes.”

In the 23 seconds of footage, the man can be seen writhing on the sidewalk in pain as fellow protesters tend to him and pour water over his face and eyes. His legs, which witnesses said other protesters had to retrieve from police, are lying on the ground nearby.

“Medic! Medic! Medic!” a man helping the injured protester screams.

The incident came less than a week after Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced that officers would no longer be allowed to use pepper spray or tear gas to disburse a non-violent crowd.

Sunday’s protests are some of the latest in the aftermath of the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death, along with others at the hands of police officers across the country, has become a catalyst for demonstrations demanding changes in policing.

Ginther on Monday tweeted that he had seen the video footage and images of the man in question.

“We are taking the matter very seriously and working diligently to find video, photos and additional information,” Ginther wrote. “Anyone with firsthand accounts, video or photos should send them to reportCPD@columbus.gov. We will fully investigate.”

The mayor wrote that peaceful protests are encouraged but that “inappropriate use of force by police will not be tolerated, nor will assaults on officers.”

“We are reviewing body-worn camera footage and 911 calls,” Ginther tweeted.

Laurenn McCubbin, an associate professor at the Columbus College of Art & Design, wrote on Twitter that her husband witnessed the incident.

“Today in Columbus, my husband was downtown at the protests and saw the cops hit and mace an unarmed kid and then STEAL HIS PROSTHETIC LEGS,” McCubbin tweeted. “For everyone asking: the protesters begged the cops for the legs back, cops refused.

“Then a group rushed the cops (getting Maced) and were able to grab the legs back and get them back to the kid.”

McCubbin wrote that the young man, who was “doing nothing but exercising his First Amendment rights,” had to “flee from the cops ON HIS HANDS to find medical help.”

She said her husband was horrified.

“Dude it was so awful,” she said in response to a commenter. “My husband came home furious and in tears.”

Her husband, Alex Getchell, later told CBS 10 in Columbus that he’d never seen a police response like the one he saw at the protest. He also told the news station he did not see the beginning of the confrontation between the man and police.

“By the time I saw him, he was already down,” Getchell told the news station. “He was down on his palms trying to get away. Some uniformed CPD guy had him by the ankles.”

Columbus police Sgt. James Fuqua disputed the public perception of what happened – and showed CBS 10 additional video footage that appears to contradict what protesters said happened.

Watch CBS 10′s report, including footage from police, below.

City surveillance cameras and body-worn cameras captured multiple images of the man with the prosthetic legs. The footage appears to show the man throwing objects, including protest signs and bottles of liquid, at officers who are trying to quell the protests.

Fuqua said officers were attempting to get protesters back onto the sidewalks and off the street, which was becoming clogged. Video from police and elsewhere shows officers using bicycles as a barrier between them and the protesters.

A body camera appears to capture footage of one of the man’s signs in the air as it is thrown at officers. The officer wearing the camera heads his way to arrest him.

A crowd gathers around the man and officers use pepper spray, but the footage shows the man being dragged – by his legs – away from officers by his fellow protesters.

“Officers did not take his legs,” Fuqua told the news station. “Clearly shown in the video, the demonstrators would not allow us to even affect an arrest.”

Footage that Fuqua said was shot about 20 minutes later shows the man walking on his prosthetic legs back toward the protest area, the news station reported.

Police are still looking for the man, who faces charges for throwing items at police officers.

In tweets he posted Sunday night, Ginther appeared to support the officers’ use of pepper spray to gain control of the crowd, despite his previous announcement.

“Increased enforcement today has been necessary to clear the right of way. Officers instructed people downtown to keep protests to the sidewalks and out of streets for more than an hour,” Ginther tweeted. “As police tried to clear streets, they were met with violence from some and took action, including using Mace and pepper spray as appropriate to keep crowds in sidewalks.

“I will reiterate again that we respect and encourage peaceful protest, but aggressive acts that put police and protesters in danger cannot be tolerated.”

The mayor said officers must keep city streets open to travel and protect residents from “lawlessness including the drag racing, fires and injuries in recent nights.”

Dan Riffle, a senior policy advisor for members of the U.S. House of Representatives, posted video of officers ramming their bicycles into the crowd of protesters.

“Was there any drag racing or fires downtown today, on a Sunday afternoon when everything is shut down during a pandemic, before this happened?” asked Riffle, whose Twitter handle is “Every Billionaire is a Policy Failure.”

Another Twitter user criticized the use of pepper spray and Mace for blocking a street, while a third posted a photo showing “all that traffic obstruction.” The image was of about a dozen police vehicles in the street.

“Blocking a street is a non-violent action that your officers chose to meet with violence,” the woman tweeted. “That is you, working with the CPD, to harm peaceful protesters.

“You aren’t listening. You aren’t even interested in the conversation that the rest of us are having.

Cox Media Group