Protesters demand meeting with CPD chief after fatal shooting in Milwaukee

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — It's been nearly a month since Columbus police officers shot and killed a man with knives in Milwaukee while in the city supporting the Republican National Convention.

On Friday, a group of protesters gathered outside CPD headquarters demanding further answers about the incident and a meeting with Police Chief Elaine Bryant.

“I'm frustrated,” said Emily Szerafy-Cox, a member of the People's Justice Project. “The idea that Columbus police officers could come into my home state and kill someone. Someone who was homeless and defenseless is frustrating.”

The group presented a list of demands to the department:

• Release the names of all Columbus police officers involved in the shooting.
• Release of full, unedited bodycam footage of the incident

ABC6 obtained the names of the five police officers involved in the July 18 shooting:

• Nicholas Mason, with CPD since 2007
• Adam Groves, with CPD since 2011
• Canaan Dick, joined CPD in 2022
• Karl Eiginger, with CPD since 2022
• Austin Enos, at CPD since 2022

Columbus Police also released bodycam videos of all five officers involved in the shooting on July 18, two days after the incident.

In response to the protests outside CPD headquarters, Columbus Police sent a statement to ABC6 on Friday:

“The Columbus Police Department released initial footage of this incident within hours. We released the rest of the footage and the names of the officers involved within 48 hours. Out of respect for the ongoing independent investigation, we cannot comment further.”

Despite the public records being available, protesters still demanded a meeting with Police Chief Bryant on Friday. Instead, they were met by the department's dialogue officers.

“We don't want a bridge,” said Bryanna Cambers, a member of the People's Justice Project. “We want to talk directly to the chief. There should be no bridge. There should be no liaison. She should come and be willing to talk to us.”

All of those police officers must be held accountable for what they did to Samuel Sharpe. He did not deserve to die that day. -Bryanna Cambers

Protesters wanted to take their list of demands to CPD headquarters, but the front doors were locked. ABC6 asked an officer monitoring the protest why the doors were locked. He said locking the doors is part of the department's security protocol when there is a protest near the building.

The protesters said they plan to return next Friday and every week thereafter until they have a meeting with Police Chief Bryant.

The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team is leading the investigation in Wisconsin. The group is equivalent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Ohio. ABC6 has requested information on the current status of the investigation and has not received a response.

All five Columbus Police officers were placed on leave following the incident last month. ABC6 has reached out to CPD to see what the current status of those officers is and is awaiting a response.