Small Group Of Protesters, Some Armed, Gather At Ohio Statehouse
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Concerns over violent protests at the Ohio Statehouse on Sunday faded as a small number of armed but peaceful demonstrators were considerably outnumbered by state troopers and National Guard members during an afternoon rally.
More than two dozen protesters, some armed with assault-style rifles and wearing military garb, argued with one another, sometimes with competing bullhorns, about a mix of causes including government overreach and election fraud from noon to shortly after 2 p.m.
The protesters were observed by numerous troopers and National Guard members, whose members also guarded multiple points around the Statehouse, including every entrance. Nearly every business around the downtown capital square was boarded up.
Several demonstrators said they were members of the anti-government Boogaloo movement, whose members espouse a coming civil war. They said they were inaccurately painted as supporters of President Donald Trump, whom at least one demonstrator said he hated, using an expletive.
One woman supporting Trump held a sign protesting social media platforms' ban of right-wing content along with Trump's removal from Twitter and Facebook. Kathy Sherman, 71, also said Trump supporters have been wrongly labeled traitors and added she didn't think the president instigated the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
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