AKRON, Ohio — Akron-area groups preparing to protest the police-involved shooting of Jayland Walker should appoint a leader to make contact ahead of protests with the city’s designated point person, Sgt. Michael Murphy Jr., said Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett in a message to the community.
Mylett took to social media this week to reach out to residents ahead of the grand jury results via a pre-recorded video, which has more than 9,000 views.
Tensions have been rising since the grand jury began hearing evidence this week on the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Walker. The case has been under investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which then turned it over to the grand jury.
Following the shooting, protests turned violent in Akron, causing extensive damage to downtown businesses. Some businesses have already boarded up their storefronts to avoid the damage they experienced last year.
In a bid to calm the unrest, the city has hosted a series of community Q&A meetings around town, answering questions about police investigations, the grand jury process and protests.
In the 8-minute video released this week, Mylett, who has served as Akron chief since August 2021, spoke calmly while seated at his desk.
“Let me say that every person in this country has a constitutional right to assemble and nonviolently protest,” Mylett said. “In fact, Akron police officers took an oath that we would uphold the constitution and that is what our intention is to do over the next several days, and the next several weeks.”
Mylett reiterated the importance of keeping communications open between the community and city while the response to the grand jury decision plays out.
To that end, he named Murphy, a supervisor and 16-year veteran of the Akron Police force, as the point person for protest groups. Murphy, who accompanied Mylett and city officials during the Q&A sessions, has in-depth knowledge of police use-of-force investigations.
An unarmed Black man, Walker was shot more than 40 times after he led police on a chase during which officers said he fired a shot at them. He eventually drove into a parking lot, left his still-moving vehicle wearing a ski mask and ran. He was fired on after he turned and officers said his actions were threatening.
Small demonstrations began Tuesday outside the Summit County Municipal Courthouse on High Street downtown where the grand jury is meeting.
That block of High Street is set up for protesters as a safe demonstration zone, open only to pedestrians, Mylett said in the video.
But setting up the zone is not about control, he said.
“We are doing this because of what we've seen across the world during protests that we’ve certainly seen in our country, where you will have people protesting and counter-protesters drive vehicles into the crowd with the intention of harming other people,” he said.
To understand their rights, Mylett referred protestors to direction from the American Civil Liberties Union that details what is considered a peaceful protest and is constitutionally protected.
The ACLU information is published and available for download as a wallet-size card on Akron Updates, a critical-information website that went live last year following the Walker shooting.
The website is designed to provide updated information on road closures, curfews, conditions in the city and other vital information, the city said.
Mylett also advised anyone involved in demonstrations to be alert for protestors arming themselves with rocks or bricks to throw to “hijack the protest,” in which case, it is time to leave, he said.
If protests become violent, as several did last year, officers will declare the protest an unlawful assembly, he said, and provide time and space for people to leave.
“But, if at the end of our efforts, people are still engaged in violent behavior, then we will use the tools and resources at our disposal to safely disperse the crowd,” Mylett said.
Those tools include pepper spray and tear gas, he said during the community Q&As.
Mylett closed his commentary with a request for residents to pray for the city.
“In the coming weeks, we will work with the community to find a path forward and to engage in the healing process,” he said.