COLUMBUS, Ohio — There were plans on social media for Trump supporters to protest at the Ohio Statehouse on Saturday, but a Black Lives Matter protest formed instead.

 


What You Need To Know

  • Trump supporters were planning on social media to protest at the Ohio Statehouse on Saturday, instead a Black Lives Matter crowd formed

  • 50 people joined to hear speakers, music, and poetry

  • Group with firearms showed up not to intimidate, but to protect

Marije Rivers was the organizer of BLM protest. She said she's determined to keep the conversation going.

“It’s to check the behavior that was displayed in the Capitol, it is, it’s to remind people that Black lives matter, will matter,” said Rivers.

The crowd gathered around 2 p.m. to listen to speakers, poetry, and music. Many brought signs and BLM flags. Casey Goodson Jr.’s picture was front and center. Goodson was shot and killed by a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy in December.

“He will forever be a part of the movement. He is legendary along with Andre Hill, legendary,” said Rivers. “It’s important that the lives that were lost are constantly in motion. They are going to change lives. They will change bills.”

Louisville, Kentucky resident, Jacoby, and a group with him, showed up to the protest with their firearms, not to intimidate the crowd but to join them.

 

 

 

“We protect people,” he said. “We’ve been doing it in Louisville, Kentucky for 270 days.”

He said they are trying to do the job he feels someone else should be doing.

“We do what the police should be doing in protecting them, so with the police being here, there, not here to protect them,” he said. “They’re here to hurt them.”