Ohio protests continue Sunday for Ma’Khia Bryant, others killed by police

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Protests continued Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, following the fatal police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant last week. 

Roughly 200 people gathered in the city’s Goodale Park before marching to a nearby street, where the crowd stopped and blocked traffic for an extended period of time. 

Many chanted Bryant’s name, held “Black Lives Matter” flags, and called for police accountability, according to the Columbus Dispatch. 

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“Today we are here to continue to lift up the life of Ma’Khia Bryant,” organizer Hana Abdur-Rahim told the crowd. “I don’t need a video to know she was a child and she deserved to live.”

Abdur-Rahim repeated the organizers’ list of demands during the protest, which included the resignations of top city leaders and the defunding of the Columbus Division of Police.

Bryant was shot and killed by Columbus police Officer Nicholas Reardon last Tuesday. As Reardon pulled up the scene and got out of his car, Bryant can be seen on bodycam and surveillance footage lunging at one woman with an apparent knife.

Bryant then turns and lunges at a second woman with the apparent weapon raised, at which point Reardon fired four shots, fatally striking her. 

This undated selfie photo provided by family members Don Bryant and Paula Bryant shows Ma'Khia Bryant and her mother, Paula. (Ma'Khia Bryant/Don Bryant and Paula Bryant via AP)

This undated selfie photo provided by family members Don Bryant and Paula Bryant shows Ma’Khia Bryant and her mother, Paula. (Ma’Khia Bryant/Don Bryant and Paula Bryant via AP)

Bryant was staying at a foster home when she was killed, reports said.

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Zach Usmani, 32, who spoke during the protest, argued that he experienced violent situations during his time as a social worker, which he was able to de-escalate, according to the paper. At least one incident included a youth’s attempt to stab him, he said. 

“Just because it may have been legal does not mean it was right,” Usmani told the crowd. “Violence does not have to be met with violence.”

Protesters also chanted the names of others killed in recent police shootings in the state. 

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Later, the crowd sat down in silence for 16 minutes to honor each year of Bryant’s life, the Dispatch reported

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