A new online video captured the moments just after a young man with no legs was pepper sprayed by police at a Columbus, Ohio protest.
In the video, the young man laid on the curb after those same police, according to protesters at the even, took both his prosthetic legs.
The incident occurred on Sunday, June 21 in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
As in so many cities across the U.S, since the May 25 killing of George Floyd, Columbus has been home to weeks of protests calling for police reform and an end to system racism.
The video was originally posted to Reddit's Columbus subReddit before it began to make the rounds on Twitter. The 23 second clip showed as four other protesters used water to alleviate the young man's burning eyes.
One protester repeatedly screamed for a medic throughout the video.
from Columbus
Redditors commenting on the original post, many apparently Columbus locals, were disgusted by what happened.
"This is really hard to watch but should be shared far and wide." ~ aninvisiblemonster
"Are. You. Effing. Kidding. Me. On the same day the [Fraternal Order of Police] puts out that weak a** propaganda video, they're downtown macing a double amputee." ~ soothingscreams
The video was also shared on Twitter.
COLUMBUS, 21-Jun: Police struck a young man, knocking him to the ground and macing him before stealing his prosthetic legs so he couldn't escape.
Video shows the aftermath, after demonstrators retrieved his legs from police. Calling medic... pic.twitter.com/Ud0yny6ylz
— Trump'sPissingMeOff 🌊😘👠🦸♀️ (@RetiredMaybe) June 22, 2020
Laurenn McCubbin—a professor at Columbus College of Art & Design—posted her husband witnessed the moments before and after the struggle captured in the video.
Today in Columbus my husband was downtown at the protests & saw the cops hit & mace an unarmed kid and then STEAL HIS PROSTHETIC LEGS. https://t.co/4DRO4CS78v
— Laurenn McCubbin (@laurennmcc) June 22, 2020
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 & get them back to the kid.
— Laurenn McCubbin (@laurennmcc) June 22, 2020
This kid, who was doing nothing but exercising his 1st amendment rights, was knocked over, maced, and had to flee from the cops ON HIS HANDS, to find medical help.
— Laurenn McCubbin (@laurennmcc) June 22, 2020
Police body cam footage and other videos taken by protesters also captured the preceding advance by police into the protesters firsthand.
NOW: Things have taken a turn here. Police came to intersection and tried to push crowd out with bikes. This happened. @nbc4i pic.twitter.com/HnHxYWkR0l
— Eric Halperin (@EricHalperinTV) June 21, 2020
One tweet claimed to pinpoint the exact moment the young man was accosted.
I guess this is acceptable @MayorGinther Pulling a double amputee by his legs who then had to crawl up the street? Not to mention mass spraying of peaceful protestors....#RecallGinther #columbusprotest #Columbus #ColumbusOhio pic.twitter.com/BCYhbfoGF6
— Kristin 🌈 ✊🏿🏳️🌈 (@kforbs) June 22, 2020
Columbus Police Department's Sgt. James Fuqua, however, claimed body cam footage showed protesters removing the man's legs in their efforts to remove him from the grasp of police.
He released an over 7 minute video to make his case.
People quickly found several discprepancies. Fuqua claimed police were only going in to retrieve a bicycle from a person in shorts and and dark shirt with a sign.
Fuqua cites this person to justify macing the amputee, but then shows police ignoring that person with the bike and going toward a person in pants and a light shirt that Fuqua identified as the amputee.
Police say they did not take amputee's legsyoutu.be
This all comes just a few weeks after Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced that CPD officers were no longer permitted to use pepper spray or tear gas to disperse crowds.
With protests continuing on in Columbus and many other U.S. cities, moments like this one, unfortunately, continue.
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