Paula Bryant speaks in front of a crowd outside of City Hall on May 1 calling for the abolition of the Columbus Police Department while also talking about her daughter, Ma’Khia Bryant, who was killed by a Columbus police officer. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Among a list of demands, tiny, colorful butterfly hair clips were passed around a protest of around 150 people outside City Hall Saturday in honor of Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl who was shot and killed by Columbus Police April 20.
Demonstrators sought transparency and accountability for the death of Ma’Khia Bryant — as well as other Black people killed by Columbus Police such as Casey Goodson Jr. and Miles Jackson — and asked the Federal Department of Justice to investigate Columbus Police, which goes beyond Mayor Andrew Ginther’s letter that asks the DOJ to solely review police and issue recommendations to eliminate racial bias in practices and policies.
Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man from Columbus, was shot multiple times in the torso outside of his home in northeast Columbus by Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade Dec. 4, 2020. Jackson, a 27-year-old of northwest Columbus, died in an altercation with Columbus Police and hospital security of Mount Carmel St. Ann’s medical center in Westerville, Ohio.
Ma’Khia Bryant’s mother, Paula Bryant, said at the protest her daughter did not deserve to die at the hands of a police officer.
“I’m very devastated by her death, but her life mattered. My baby girl’s life mattered,” Paula Bryant said.
Paula Bryant said her daughter loved to do hair trends found on TikTok, was a good student and helped everyone she encountered. She said she wants to continue to spread Ma’Khia’s story and demand justice for her life.
“She’s not going to die in vain,” Paula Bryant said. “This system failed her, and it failed me.”
Ohio State students were among the demonstrators.
An Ohio State senior spoke at the protest and demanded the university sever ties with Columbus Police.
The student, who was an organizer of the April 21 sit-in-turned-march that began at the Ohio Union and ended in downtown Columbus, said she was there to amplify the demands made by Undergraduate Student Government, Ohio Union Activities Board, Buckeyethon and other student organizations that the university end its relationship with Columbus Police and to stand in solidarity with Ma’Khia Bryant’s family.
University President Kristina M. Johnson sent a universitywide email Tuesday acknowledging contention over campus area policing amid requests from some students to abolish ties with police and requests from other students and parents to increase police presence near campus.
Shortly after the email, Ohio State student leaders released a joint statement calling for the university to end contracts with Columbus Police.
USG previously released a June 1, 2020 letter addressed to Johnson and the administration, which received about 20,000 signatures, calling for the university to cease on-campus operations with Columbus Police and review off-campus police contracts following the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
Pranav Padmanabhan, a third-year in geography and public health, said he’s been protesting against systems in the U.S. that “continue to fail Black and brown lives” since summer 2020.
“We need change now. We’re here to fight for justice,” Padmanabhan said. “I think as an Ohio State student, we’re part of the larger Columbus community, and we have an obligation to stand up for the most marginalized in our city.”
Owen Milnes and Bella Czajkowski contributed reporting.
