Please Read! My Columbus, Ohio Police Story from Saturday 12/22 Please tag and forward this to any news + media outlets. As many of you already know, my friends and I are in Columbus this month working on a service project to help enhance the culture in Ohio. We have opened a store in the Short North Arts District where we have had many artists of all sorts, musicians, and creators from all over the state and country come in to network and inspire. We have been collecting canned goods and coats, hats and gloves for the Mid-Ohio Food Bank and Salvation Army. On Saturday, we had three local clothing brands & 5 different artists showcasing their creations, as well as a local DJ showing off his skills. We had an amazing turn out of over 100 people come to check out the shop! The evening event ended around 2:00AM. As my friends and I were finishing up cleaning the shop and getting ready to head home, we heard a huge bang come from the front of the shop. (We were in the back of the shop putting away the merch and getting ready to leave and lock up through the back entrance.) 5+ police officers with their guns drawn immediately rushed into the back room. One officer screaming PUT YOUR HANDS UP I WILL F*CKING SHOOT YOU. I knew instantly this was a huge misunderstanding. We tried to ask the officers why they were in our shop while my 6 friends and I laid on the floor with our hands up and guns pointed at our heads. I tried to tell the officers that this was my establishment and we arent doing anything wrong. One officer, who proudly gave us his name and badge number, told me to shut the f*ck up and roughly grabbed me and threw me into a wall, then into a table while handcuffing me and dragging me outside and throwing me into a cop car. All of us were dragged out of OUR shop separately before we were even told why they were there. Finally, an officer told us that they had a sign of a burglary because they saw a black man closing the blinds. I was instantly upset. I was handcuffed, mishandled, and treated like a criminal all because someone who owns the shop was closing the shop blinds. When the officers finally released us from handcuffs, 2 of the officers expressed their apologies and offered to call an ambulance for the injuries that one officer caused to me. I declined, as I knew I had to stay the rest of the evening at the shop since my door was now kicked in and we had a shop full of others art and creations. They gave me a paper and said I could fill it out and sometimes they will reimburse us for the door & art damages, but its not guaranteed and it wont happen quickly. My confusion is continuing to rise as I look at the sticker that has been on the front of our window that says short north block watch, meaning that officers are supposed to be paying attention to whats going on on this block... But how was it a mystery to the officers that our shop existed? We had a full evening of activities that included people standing in the front of our shop all night. We had performers out front! But they didnt see our shop until 3:30 am when a black man was closing the blinds. Also, this was not our first event at the shop. My friends and I have had to stay all hours at the shop because we havent been able to get our door fixed. Again, this was a service project to give back.. This isnt the first time something like this has happened to me or someone I know. These types of things HAVE to stop. Why are officers running into any establishment threatening to f*cking shoot us? Why do I have to be guilty until Im proven innocent? Why was I thrown around and dragged out of MY shops room by an officer before I was even told why they kicked my door down? Im sad. Im really losing faith in our system.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:24:21 +0000
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