Protesters gather in Downtown Columbus all day to honor Ma’Khia Bryant
They came Downtown all day long, the gatherers and protesters, those who knew 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, who was fatally shot by a Columbus police officer on Tuesday, and those who did not.
It began at 1 p.m. when a crowd of 70 or so stood on the west side of the Statehouse Saturday afternoon chanting Bryant’s name.
But it was their footwear that spoke volumes. About half the people there wore Crocs shoes, most of them brightly colored. Those were Bryant’s signature of sorts.
India Curry, an 18-year-old from the North Side, never met Bryant, but it was her idea to post on social media that people should wear Crocs to the rally. Curry couldn’t get over the images of Bryant from the day she was shot — while swinging a knife at a woman —and the fact that she was wearing rainbow-colored shoes.
“A 16-year-old laying there bleeding her heart out,” Curry said, wearing the blue-and-white Crocs that she purchased special this week at the brand store at Polaris. “The Crocs she had on made her look so young and innocent.”
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The gathering on Saturday saw some speakers stepping into High Street with their microphones and megaphones to share personal stories of Black and brown children struggling in the foster-care system.
The day began with this chant: “Momma, momma, can’t you see what the police have done to me? They lock us up, they shoot us down, especially when you’re Black and brown.”
A second protest kicked off later in front of Columbus Police headquarters, forming a group in the intersection of Marconi Boulevard and Long Street. In anticipation of a crowd, the city had rerouted COTA buses in and around the Downtown.
Not long after 3:30 p.m., in a steady and cool rain, a group of about 150 people — and plenty more in a vehicle caravan — marched east on Long Street to High Street and settled in again on the west side of the Statehouse.
Tents had been set up to keep some people dry, and pizza had been delivered. With plastic ponchos covering their clothes, hoods up, and a few umbrellas mixed in, no one there was going to let a little rain keep them from their mission.
Two protesters appeared to be associated with the ‘boogaloos,’ which has been characterized as an extremist, anti-government organization. One wore a mask bearing the group’s signature igloo and black-and-white stripes and carried a pistol. The other carried an AR-style riflewith a 37mm grenade launcher underneath the barrel. Both were in full body armor.
The crowd eventually dwindled to a couple dozen before breaking up around 7 p.m. Though small in number, the passionate group continued to lead chants and wave a Black Lives Matter flag in the air.
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Read More: Protesters gather in Downtown Columbus all day to honor Ma’Khia Bryant