Columbus Immigration Ban Protest: Police Use Pepper Spray To Break Up Crowd

COLUMBUS, OH - Police in downtown Columbus on Monday night used pepper spray to break up a crowd that had gathered to protest President Trump's executive order on immigration.

Hundreds of protesters were blocking an intersection, protesters told Patch, before the pepper spray was deployed. The group was part of a larger, peaceful march earlier in the evening that was protesting the order.

Lauren McCallister was at the protest. She said the police presence may have escalated things out of control.

"The protest was winding down when the police showed up in force which antagonized some remaining protesters," McCallister told Patch.

Tynan Krakoff, lead organizer with Showing Up for Racial Justice Columbus, was also at the rally and said the sheer size of the initial crowd caused a spillover into the street. Columbus Police asked protesters to move from the street; some complied, others didn't.

"They were chanting things like, 'No Ban, No Registry, No White Supremacy,'" Krakoff told Patch. At that point, police began going back to their cars and returning with gas masks.

"Many may have seen it coming, but then pretty suddenly the police rushed the crowd, using police bikes (while standing) as a crowd control and started pushing people to the sidewalk forcefully, and multiple police started using their pepperspray," Krakoff said.

Columbus Police did not immediately return a request for comment.

Following the use of pepper spray, McCallister found refuge in a building lobby and waited for the gas to clear.

"In the five to 10 minutes I was inside, medics had already set up stations and were flushing people's eyes, so regardless of the feelings this has given me about the police I am immensely proud of the community," she said.

Video and photographs taken at the scene show a crowd of people in the intersection, surrounded by police and television news cameras, before being pepper sprayed. It appears the police used the pepper spray after the crowd refused to move from the street.

The Columbus Police Department had its helicopter circling the crowd, according to multiple reports. The Columbus Dispatch said the chopper was there to assess crowd size.

Following the pepper spraying, Krakoff said his group is furious.

"We are outraged that the Columbus Police Department chose to use pepper spray to disperse a peaceful crowd exercising their First Amendment rights," he said.

Photos used with permission from Showing Up for Racial Justice Columbus