A 22-year-old woman has died after allegedly being tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed while she participated in George Floyd protests in Ohio....
A 22-year-old woman has died after allegedly being tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed while she participated in George Floyd protests in Ohio.
Sarah Grossman, 22, of Springboro, Ohio, died on May 30, after family members took her to the hospital, just two days after her relatives said that she had participated in a George Floyd protest in Columbus, Ohio.
The day after her death, Sarah's father told the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office that while at the May 28 protest, she had been 'exposed to tear gas and pepper spray' that had been 'discharged by police as part of crowd control,' according to autopsy records obtained by the Dayton Daily News.
Sarah Grossman, 22, died on May 30, two days after her parents said that she had been exposed to tear gas and pepper spray while protesting in Columbus, Ohio
Sarah (right) was found non-responsive at her home and taken to the hospital while she was in cardiac arrest. Full autopsy results will not be ready for several weeks
The final autopsy results have not been completed yet, but according to the preliminary report, Sarah was taken to the hospital at around 10pm on May 30 after she was found non-responsive at their home.
When she arrived at the hospital, she was in cardiac arrest and died shortly afterwards.
An emergency room nurse said that Sarah's death was a suspected overdose but her family denied that she had a history of drug abuse. Toxicology tests had not been completed yet.
Preliminary autopsy results indicated that she had a peanut allergy and that there were no signs of lethal trauma on her body, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Sarah's employers, Stauf's Coffee Roasters, in Columbus, wrote in a Facebook post that she had been tear-gassed during the protest.
City officials tweeted that they did not have any records of anybody being taken to the hospital during the night of the May 28 protest
Police were seen using various sprays to disperse crowds when the peaceful protests turned into riots in Columbus on May 28. It's unclear where Sarah was protesting and what time
A protester is seen pour milk over their face on May 28. Milk has been said to help calm irritation left after being pepper sprayed
In addition to a tribute to her, as well as detailing her devotion to the Rainforest Alliance and Black Lives Matter movement, Stauf's wrote: 'As a peaceful protester this weekend, she stood up to end police brutality and was tear-gassed as a result. Her death came in the aftermath, but her legacy stands even stronger.'
On June 3, the City of Columbus tweeted : 'We have seen social media reports of a young woman passing away as the result of being sprayed during a protest in Columbus.'
The tweet noted that the Columbus Fire Department 'does not have a record of an EMT transport to any Columbus-area hospitals',
A City of Columbus spokesperson told the newspaper that it had not received any first-person accounts of where she had been protesting or even if she had been at the protests at all.
The spokesperson also said that Sarah's family had not lodged any formal complaints as of Sunday.
The city confirmed that it had used 'gasses to disperse crowds that night,' however.
Photos from the May 28 protests in Columbus indicate that what had started as a peaceful protest turned into a riot when protesters and police officers clashed.
Some images showed police spraying protesters with a substance that night, while others shows protesters pouring milk and water on their faces. Milk is said to help relieve irritation caused by pepper spray.
It's unclear what time and where Sarah might've been protesting in Columbus that day.
Sarah's sister, Jessa Grossman, posted a tribute on Instagram on June 2, noting that Sarah had recently graduated from Ohio State University with a major in environmental sciences and Spanish and planned to move to Guatemala to start a sustainable farm.
Earlier mentions of the fact that Sarah might've died from respiratory issues stemming from exposure to tear gas at the protest were removed from the post, the newspaper reported.
The current caption does not mention Sarah participating in the protest but does note that anybody looking to make a donation in Sarah's name should 'donate to one of the organizations she was fighting for the most' - the Rainforest Alliance and the Columbus Freedom Fund, which provides bail money for arrested protesters.
Sarah's full autopsy results are expected to be available in about eight weeks, the coroner's office told the newspaper.
No comments