Several protesters with People's Justice Project gathered at Columbus Police headquarters downtown on Friday.
Holding signs that read, “Abolish the police” and “Indict killer cops,” the group made two demands: release the names of all Columbus police officers who were involved in the death of Sam Sharpe, Jr., and release full un-redacted body camera footage of Sharpe's death.
The small group – five people, before a few more joined – tried to enter the building to demand a meeting with Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant. Finding the door locked, they taped a poster-sized copy of their demands to the door.
On July 16, five Columbus police officers shot and killed Sharpe, a 43-year-old Black man, in Milwaukee. Police were helping out during the Republican National Convention.
Two days later, Columbus police released several body camera videos that were tagged with the officers’ first initials and last names. That lead to multiple media outlets reporting the officers’ names as Austin Enos, Adam Groves, Canaan Dick, Karl Eiginger and Nicholas Mason. The five joined CPD between 2007 and 2022.
Emily Szerafy-Cox with Peoples Justice Project said her group had been in touch with organizations in Milwaukee who said Sharpe's family hasn’t gotten the information.
“If this information was fully available – the names and so forth – why didn't the family know about that,” Szerafy-Cox said.
Milwauke police policy requires police to release body camera footage of “critical incidents” or police shootings to families of victims within 48 hours, and to the public within 15 days.
Szerafy-Cox said Columbus needs a similar policy.
"There is not an assurance that that information will be released,” Szerafy-Cox said. “There needs to be an actual policy about this.”
In a statement Friday, the Columbus Division of Police reiterated that it did release the footage of Sharpe’s death within a reasonable time frame.
“The Columbus Division of Police released initial footage of this incident within a few hours. We released the remainder of the footage, along with the names of the officers involved, within 48 hours. Out of respect for the ongoing independent investigation, we are unable to comment further,” the statement reads.
The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team is investigating the shooting.
