Akron City Council has implemented new rules, effective January 3, 2024, to restrict public comment during meetings. In an 8-5 vote, the council decided to move the meeting start time to 6:30 p.m. and shift the public comment period to the beginning. However, the most significant change is limiting public comment to 10 speakers per meeting, with individuals allowed to speak only once every 30 days. Residents must fill out an online form by 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting to request to speak, potentially concluding public comment within 30 minutes.

Previously, there were no restrictions on the number of speakers or their frequency, only requiring advance sign-up. The recent weeks had seen over two dozen speakers at council meetings, prompting the new limitations. The council also implemented a ban on backpacks, bags larger than 12” X 6” X 12”, banners, flags, posters, signs, and “noisemakers of any kind.” While some view the move positively for promoting efficiency, others criticize it as limiting citizen participation, with activist Fran Wilson describing it as "fascist."

Council President Margo Sommerville, who proposed the legislation to enhance meeting efficiency and professionalism, stated that the changes address decorum issues and do not intend to limit community perspectives. The decision reflects an effort to balance the need for orderly proceedings with citizens' right to express concerns.

Police were called for disorderly teens. So if you don't want to get punched in the face, behave. This happened at 1200 block of Lawton Street.

With that said, Terrelle Harris-Malone was doing what he was told. He was walking away. Video shows he had his hands up as multiple policemen tackled him to the ground, jam his face into the ground, punched him and in general took it to far. In one shot you see him with his one remaining arm still up, not resisting.

19 News obtained Akron Police bodycam of this incident.

The video shows the 19-year-old suspect leaving the scene and encouraging the rest of the group to also leave.

The video does not specifically show the 19-year-old hitting an officer’s arm.

The suspect has his hands in the air and does not appear to be resisting the arrest in the video.

So that task force we created to review the police? This is what you were made for and you need to do something.

Harris-Malone was arrested earlier this year on October 27 and now faces charges of riot, resisting arrest, obstructing official business, and criminal trespass.

Harris-Malone is set to go to trial on February 6.

His lawyer says they plan to file a civil suit against the Akron officers involved.

Three other teens were arrested during the incident.

Akron Police are now investigating the use of force during the incident.

The Akron Police Department has quietly updated its internal policies about police shootings and now lists the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation as the default “preferred agency,” instead of its own detectives, to investigate after APD officers kill or seriously injure someone.

While the APD has regularly called on the BCI’s Crime Scene Unit to process scenes of police shootings, Chief Steve Mylett caught the ire of the police union in 2022 when he asked the state agency to conduct the entire investigation into Jayland Walker’s killing. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 filed a grievance that alleged bringing in an outside agency...