An investigation is underway into whether the death of a 22-year-old in Ohio came as the result of police firing tear gas during a George Floyd protest on May 28 in Columbus.
According to preliminary autopsy records obtained by The Dayton Daily News, the father of the young woman, Sarah Grossman, told the Montgomery County Coroner's Office that she was exposed to both tear gas and pepper spray at the protest.
Two days later, her family found her unresponsive and she was taken to Sycamore Hospital in Miamisburg, Ohio while in cardiac arrest and died shortly thereafter.
It will likely take weeks until an official cause of is determined, reports the coroner's office.
An emergency room nurse had initially called Grossman's death a suspected overdose, but officials have not completed a toxicology screen and her family said she has no history of drug abuse. Her only listed medical condition was a peanut allergy.
In Columbus, city officials said they'd been investigating rumors from social media that a protester died after being tear-gassed. Narrowing the protest down to May 28 "gives us more clarity," city spokeswoman Robin Davis told the Dayton paper, admitting that police "did use gasses to disperse crowds that night."
"We haven’t received an official complaint, nor have investigators in Montgomery County talked to [Columbus police],” she commented. “Again, we encourage anyone who was with her at the protest before she went to Sycamore to talk to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office or [Columbus police].”
There were multiple protests in the city on May 28, and it is not clear which one Grossman attended. The Daily News reports that video has emerged of police using pepper spray against protesters, including at Ohio State University, where she graduated from on May 3.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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