'Pride Cruiser' shown off by police 'LGBTQIA+ liaison officer' in Columbus, Ohio. Reaction is decidedly grim: 'This is f***ing ridiculous'



A "Pride Cruiser" got a grand "unveiling" on video, courtesy of the "LGBTQIA+ liaison officer" for the police department in Columbus, Ohio, recently.

What are the details?

The white SUV — adorned with rainbow flags and LBGTQ-themed messages such as "Love Is Love" — is parked behind the officer as he delivers the news to viewers.

"Hi, I’m Officer Lutz with the Columbus Division of Police. I’m your LGBTQIA+ liaison officer, and we're unveiling right now our Pride Cruiser for the month of June!" the officer says.

With that, Lutz steps aside as the camera trains upon the SUV from all angles and music plays in the background:

\u201cHappy #PRIDE Columbus!!!\n\nMake sure to say hi to Officer Lutz when you see him out and get a photo with our PRIDE cruiser!\u201d
— Columbus Ohio Police (@Columbus Ohio Police) 1655410656

"Happy #PRIDE Columbus!!!" the tweet from Columbus Police reads. "Make sure to say hi to Officer Lutz when you see him out and get a photo with our PRIDE cruiser!"

As the video plays, Lutz adds, "I’m excited about this cruiser. It’s great for representation.”

Other phrases on the "Pride Cruiser" urge citizens to "Report Hate Crimes" and to celebrate "Columbus Pride 2022."

How are folks reacting to the 'Pride Cruiser'?

Certainly the "Pride Cruiser" has its share of supporters on Twitter, but a goodly number of folks reacting to the tweet from Columbus Police weren't exactly thrilled with the "unveiling":

  • "I guarantee you that most of your officers and employees are embarrassed by this nonsense," one commenter wrote.
  • "I'm sure that police car will strike fear in the hearts of criminals," another user guessed.
  • "This is a joke right?" another commenter asked. "Y’all just f***in with us."
  • "You are an EMBARRASSMENT to your community," another user responded. "I feel sad for your taxpayers having to fund virtue-signaling idiocy."
  • "You people are a joke," another commenter declared.
  • "This is absolutely insane," another user said. "Why R we paying for any of this? Are you guys so completely bored that you can waste time and $ on this crap? A [liaison] for the LGBTQ community ... WTF do U actually do and why do we need this position? Why can't the LGBTQ community just go to any cop?"
  • "Openly gay shouldn’t be any different than openly heterosexual," another commenter stated. "I thought that was the whole point, but now every June we’ll be inundated with Pride??? Sheesh. Just stop already 'cause it’s gone way beyond being proud of being gay."
  • "I have an enormous amount of respect for [law] enforcement. I defend policing, donate $ to FOP, and rely on local police to keep my family safe," another user noted. "This is f***ing ridiculous."

Roundup: The media tried to hide the fact that the Columbus teen killed by police was swinging a knife when she was shot



On Tuesday, as a 12-person jury pronounced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts for his role in George Floyd's death, another apparent tragedy took place in Columbus, Ohio — a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed by police.

The loose "facts" of the incident proved too juicy to fact-check for left-leaning media outlets eager to fuel outrage over alleged police brutality against black Americans. Countless media figures reported before the facts were out that police in Ohio had yet again shot and killed an unarmed black person.

"As we breathed a collective sigh of relief today, a community in Columbus felt the sting of another police shooting as Columbus Police killed an unarmed 15yo Black girl named [Ma'Khia] Bryant. Another child lost! Another hashtag," Benjamin Crump, the attorney for George Floyd's family, tweeted Tuesday night.

"There has been yet another police shooting of an unarmed 16 year old Black teen girl by police in #ColumbusOhio," CNN legal analyst Areva Martin added as a matter of fact.

Image Source: Twitter screenshot

But they were wrong.

Right around the same time that Martin posted her tweet, Columbus police released bodycam footage of the incident that clearly showed Bryant aggressively swinging a knife at another girl when she was shot by police. The officer, Nicholas Reardon, rather than being a bloodthirsty racist, appeared to be a hero.

Yet even with the new information, NPR couldn't get itself to admit the obvious. In one version of its report about the incident, the news outlet stated vaguely that before Bryant was shot, she was "seen swinging her arm toward another woman." No mention of the knife in her hand.

In an updated version of its report, NPR removed any mention of the knife in Bryant's hand or of her swinging anything at all.

It says, "[Bryant] then approaches a second girl and throws her against a car parked on the driveway. The officer shouts 'Get down!' three times, pulls out his gun and shoots in Bryant's direction at least four times and she falls to the ground. ... As the officer approaches her, a knife can be seen close to her."

Don't worry, though, NPR gave itself cover by including a ridiculous disclaimer in the report, which stated, "Some facts reported by the media may later turn out to be wrong."

Disclaimer from NPR on its article (which hasn't yet been updated with new information regarding the body cam video… https://t.co/7SyfgScfUy
— Shelby Talcott (@Shelby Talcott)1618981451.0

The Washington Post, in its report, quoted Bryant's aunt saying that her niece had a knife in hand but dropped it before she was shot by police. The Post amazingly mentions the bodycam footage but conveniently never makes clear in its reporting that video clearly showed the knife in Bryant's hand as she was shot. The outlet would rather that fact remain elusive, it seems.

@AGHamilton29 @allahpundit It's not just the headline: even though the knife is clearly visible in her hand, the ar… https://t.co/KWjzoo5WRN
— Jeryl Bier (@Jeryl Bier)1619016696.0

The Daily Beast was also dragged for its original reporting on the incident. The outlet also reported that Bryant had dropped the knife before being shot, using aunt Hazel as its primary source, and added without verification that Bryant was "fending off a physical assault when police arrived." The outlet has since updated its story numerous times.

The Daily Beast did an absolute masterclass in journalism on this one. The left screenshot is what they originally… https://t.co/O71dp7QZFF
— Greg Price (@Greg Price)1618979218.0

NBC Nightly News made the decision to deceptively edit out an important portion of the 911 call, in which the caller says, "These grown girls over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us, get here now!" In its video report, the outlet only played the portion where the caller shouts, "We need a police officer here now!"

In their report on the officer-involved shooting in Columbus, Ohio, NBC Nightly News deceptively edited the 911 cal… https://t.co/LeHNmOQc3B
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@Nicholas Fondacaro)1619050072.0

NBC also failed to stop and show the knife in Bryant's hand moments before she was shot. More complete audio of the 911 call can be heard here.

Though not nearly as egregious as the other reports, CNN's Wolf Blitzer attempted to cover the obvious facts of the case displayed in the bodycam footage with a cloud of uncertainty. In his report on the news, Blitzer alleged there are "growing questions" about the incident as it "appears" that Bryant has a knife and "seems" as if she is lunging at another girl before being shot.

CNN’s @wolfblitzer: “Growing questions” about police shooting in Columbus of a “16-year-old African-American” girl;… https://t.co/wsGlZzUd4Z
— Tom Elliott (@Tom Elliott)1619039314.0

Here's the bodycam footage, for reference.

Columbus Police release body cam footage of officer shooting, killing girl, 16youtu.be

Ohio State University students stage sit-in protest, demand school sever ties with Columbus police for shooting of knife-wielding teen



Students at Ohio State University staged a sit-in protest Wednesday over the fatal police shooting of a teen girl wielding a knife who attempted to stab two people. The protesters demanded that the university sever ties with the Columbus Division of Police, the Ohio law enforcement department whose officer shot and killed 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant at the exact moment she lunged with a knife at another girl.

Several hundred protesters gathered at the Ohio Union, which serves as a student activity center and dining area for students of Ohio State University. Students held signs that called for the city of Columbus to abolish its police department, support for Black Lives Matter, another sign that demanded "CPD out of OSU," and one that reads "ACAB," an acronym for "All Cops Are Bastards." The crowd of Ohio State students held a 16-minute moment of silence for Bryant.

A spokesperson for the university issued a statement on the protests: "Ohio State supports the right of our students, faculty and staff to peacefully express their views and to speak out about issues that are important to them. Freedom of speech and civic engagement are central to our values as an institution of higher education."

Ohio State University students hold a sit-in at the Ohio Union to demand that OSU sever ties with Columbus Police D… https://t.co/0B9FyBUquF
— corinne_perkins (@corinne_perkins)1619040545.0

There were more than 500 Ohio State University students who marched in the streets to the Ohio Statehouse, where they demanded that university leadership cut ties to the Columbus Division of Police, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Students now taking to the streets. They’re marching in Ma’Khai’s name. @nbc4i https://t.co/ojdbVZXZk8
— Karina Cheung (@Karina Cheung)1619033218.0
Huge crowd of @OhioState students now taking the streets to demand OSU cut ties with @ColumbusPolice after the kill… https://t.co/fhLRZGEfqP
— Benjamin McKean (@Benjamin McKean)1619033393.0
HAPPENING NOW: Several hundred Ohio State students marching on High Street protesting the shooting death of Ma'khia… https://t.co/Jt1Wd4Avjw
— Stacia Naquin (@Stacia Naquin)1619036240.0

The demonstrators issued a list of five demands, which was the same list that was written by three Ohio State student governments in June 2020 as a reaction to the police-involved death of George Floyd.

  • Ohio State University Police Division immediately cease contracts with the Columbus Division of Police for any and all on-campus investigations, services and events;
  • OSUPD immediately cease mutual aid service contracts with Columbus police and reevaluate joint patrols to limit the presence of and the frequency of calls to CPD officers and resources in off-campus areas;
  • Ohio State no longer accept federal, military-grade resources and reduce OSUPD's budget for expenditures that may be used for further militarization, but rather reallocate the funds to further invest in student support units;
  • Ohio State's Department of Public Safety release an action plan, created with student input, that affirms the commitment to Black student safety and overall university safety through disarmed, anti-force and culturally competent practices, and;
  • Ohio State acknowledge and condemn the anti-Black violence the Columbus police committed against Ohio State students and the greater Columbus community.

On Wednesday, the school responded to the demand of cutting ties with the Columbus Division of Police, "The Ohio State University Police Division (OSUPD) is the primary law enforcement agency on all of our campuses. In Columbus, we contract with the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) for specific services, largely traffic control for athletics events. We also have a mutual-aid agreement in place that allows our OSUPD to assist CPD off campus."

Last June, an Ohio State University spokesperson issued a statement on the list of demands:

As President Drake wrote on Saturday, George Floyd suffered a horrendous and completely unnecessary death. His killing, and those that have come before, demand that we create a different future. We know our students are hurting, we are here to support them, and we are inspired by their commitment to this cause. We must all work together to end abuse, discrimination, bigotry, and hatred. We will be in dialogue with our student government leaders about the specific concerns they have raised.