BTS: The Tale of Two Rallies

Same location...same incident...two vastly different events.

It's been a little more than a week since I drove away from Beavercreek's Fairfield Crossing shopping center parking lot and the second of two rallies that was held at its Walmart Superstore, the site of the August 5th shooting of John Crawford III by that city's police department. I made a point of attending both events because I wanted to play the part of an objective reporter but it was extremely hard to equate two things that were almost completely opposite in their scope and purpose.

A/V: Community Displays Support for Police Officers

Attendees gathered Sunday afternoon to show their support for the Beavercreek (Ohio) Police Department outside the city's Walmart Superstore that was the scene of a shooting on August 5th.

Despite overcast skies and a rain shower that forced many to seek shelter, approximately 150 to 200 people attended a Sunday afternoon Operation Shield BPD rally in support of the Beavercreek Police Department in an outer parking lot of the city's Walmart Superstore. This location was the same one used the previous afternoon for a rally by supporters of the family of John Crawford III who was shot in that same store on August 5th by one of two of that department's officers who responded to the 911 call.

A/V: Rally Organizers Call for Release of Store Surveillance Tapes

Several hundred people gathered on Saturday afternoon within sight of the Beavercreek, Ohio Walmart store where John Crawford III was shot and killed by a city police officer on August 5th.

On a very warm Ohio afternoon, approximately 200 to 300 people assembled in Beavercreek, Ohio to attend the Justice For John Crawford Protest and Rally in support of the family of the 21-year old Cincinnati-area man gunned down by police officers at that city's Walmart store earlier this month. Organized by the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the National Action Network, or GCCNAN, the peaceful protest featured one dozen speakers demanding Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine release surveillance video footage of that shooting that was captured by several of the store's 200 security cameras. On Friday, DeWine stated that such a release would not happen prior to any grand jury-mandated court actions because that evidence could influence potential jurors.

A/V: Santorum Stumps in Cincinnati Suburbs

(NOTE: this was the first of two events that I covered on March 3rd. Due to delays caused by this reporter being 'under the weather' from Saturday evening until today, I am now just finishing the early one and will post the later one as time and scheduling permits.)

Former US Senator Rick Santorum addresses an enthusiastic group of supporters at a rally Saturday morning in Blue Ash, Ohio.

In an attempt to shore up support in the remaining days leading up to next Tuesday's Ohio presidential primary, former US senator and current Republican candidate Rick Santorum attended a series of campaign events across the state yesterday to get his message out to his supporters as well as undecided voters.  Recent polling shows Santorum and his main rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, in a very close race for winning the popular vote and a majority of Ohio's 66 delegates to this summer's Republican National Convention.