Three Columbus, Ohio, police officers have been criminally charged for how they responded to protests over the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the New York Times reports. The three officers in question, Traci Shaw, Holly Kanode and Phillip Walls, are all charged with dereliction of duty. But Shaw and Walls are also accused of assault—pepper-spraying people without provocation—while Kanode is charged with falsification after body-camera footage was said to disprove her claim about a protester attacking a fellow officer. An attorney representing the three cops indicated they planned to fight the charges, vowing, “We’re going to fight this tooth and nail at trial.”
The charges against the three officers come as the Columbus Police Department has faced criticism for the fatal shooting of Ma’khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, in April. Last month, the department shelled out $10 million to the family of Andre Hill, 47, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed by a cop in December. The officer in question, 44-year-old Adam Coy, has since been fired and charged with murder.
Read it at The New York Times
