protests

Pandemic brings protests, and guns, to officials’ personal homes

BY: - January 27, 2021

First came protests outside the home of then-state health director Dr. Amy Acton. There were guns, a police presence, anti-vaccine activists, a man in Proud Boys apparel on a motorcycle, and another man wielding an anti-Semitic sign, all cluttering the sidewalks outside Acton’s bucolic suburban home. Since then, members of “Moms Against DeWine,” some of […]

U.S. Capitol locks down after pro-Trump rioters storm inside

BY: and - January 6, 2021

Updated 4:56 p.m., Jan. 6, 2021. A violent mob derailed the typically routine process of Congress certifying the presidential election results on Wednesday, with the House of Representatives and Senate abruptly recessing after President Donald Trump’s supporters clashed with police and forced their way into the U.S. Capitol. Both legislative chambers were evacuated amid the […]

The top 10 unforgettable moments of a tumultuous year in D.C.

BY: - December 28, 2020

WASHINGTON — To say that 2020 has been an eventful year in the nation’s capital is an understatement. Amid a global pandemic, a bitter race for the presidency and protests over police brutality, news in Washington never let up. As the year winds to an end, let’s take a look back at the moments of […]

House bill would impose harsh new penalties on protesters and their organizations

BY: - November 16, 2020

In the wake of this summer’s massive civil-rights protests, two Republicans in the Ohio House have filed a bill that imposes harsh new penalties on certain protest-related activities.

COMMENTARY

Demas: The coronavirus crisis shows now is the time to demand more from our government

BY: - July 21, 2020

America has blown past every country in the coronavirus pandemic, with almost 4 million cases and more than 140,000 deaths. If you want to know why the most medically advanced country in the world ended up here, look no further than the malfeasance and conspiracy-mongering of President Donald Trump. The New York Times this weekend ran a devastating tick-tock […]

Unionized fast-food, janitorial, nursing home workers picket for Black Lives Matter in Toledo, Cleveland

BY: - July 20, 2020

Unionized fast-food, nursing home and janitorial workers in Toledo and Cleveland picketed Monday in solidarity with the Strike for Black Lives, a national day of action confronting systemic racism.  SEIU District 1199 — a union that represents workers in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio — was one of more than 50 major national labor organizations that […]

Local and federal law enforcement using intimidation tactics against protesters, state lawyers guild says

BY: - July 3, 2020

Lawyers across the state say local and national law enforcement have been using police intimidation tactics against Black Lives Matter protesters and organizers.  The Ohio Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild said on Monday that police surveilled and visited at least a dozen people, seizing trash, probing for personal testimony, and asking for photos and […]

Protesters report adverse effects from tear gas exposure, demand Columbus ban chemical agents entirely

BY: - June 22, 2020

“I feel very violated by the state” Mason Hickman distinctly remembers the burning sensation as he inhaled a waft of tear gas on the Ohio Statehouse lawn when police used the chemical agent to disperse a group of peaceful protesters.  Afterwards, he felt exhausted — likely because of the blistering summer heat, he thought.  That […]

COMMENTARY

Law you can use: exercising your right to protest

BY: - June 19, 2020

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” – First Amendment The right to peacefully assemble and join […]

COMMENTARY

2020 uprisings, unprecedented in scope, join a long river of struggle in America

BY: - June 9, 2020

The river was the metaphor that best captured “the long, continuous movement” of the black freedom struggle for theologian, historian and civil rights activist Vincent Harding. Harding, who had served as a speechwriter for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote in his groundbreaking 1981 study of African-American history, “There is a River: The Black Struggle […]

DeWine won’t ‘critique’ handling of D.C. protests, but has sent Ohio National Guardsmen there

BY: - June 5, 2020

Ohio earlier this week sent 100 members of the National Guard to serve under President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., where they’re likely to play a role in policing protests. But Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday said he “didn’t know all the facts” about a federal law-enforcement action there on Monday that has drawn international […]

Pandemic strains emergency responders with more disasters on horizon

BY: - June 4, 2020

Federal officials have more money than ever to respond to disasters, but some worry their focus on the pandemic could hamstring efforts to recover from other catastrophes. Congressional Democrats and health experts have warned in recent weeks that the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s pandemic response could come at the cost of its response to tornadoes, […]