The hearse that circled the streets surrounding Columbus City Hall Monday evening had no dead to transport.
The Cadillac, in fact, was nowhere near large enough to accommodate all the people those in the procession had come to mourn — all of them killed by Columbus police.
As an estimated 50 cars drove in a loop blaring their horns, a group of faith leaders assembled outside City Hall to call for an end to the fatal shootings that they say were the result of aggressive — if not racist — policing practices.
"We're standing against policing without compassion. We're standing against policing without mercy. We're standing against policing without grace," said the Rev. Edward Lewis, pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church on the Near East Side. "We're standing against policing that is bereft of humanity."