However, police have provided their version of the incident, saying the man was a protester who had earlier attacked officers.
In a video widely circulated on social media, a young man screams repeatedly for a medic as bystanders clear pepper spray from the eyes of a young male on his back at the curb, his prosthetic legs still in their shoes nearby.
Some of the descriptions attached to the video by those circulating it claimed Columbus police pepper sprayed a peaceful protester on Sunday (local time), "disconnected his prosthetic legs, and took them away."
After a day-long onslaught of criticism, Columbus police provided their version of the incident -- and included visual evidence that appears to show the fallen amputee as a protester who moments before had attacked police.
"It blew up into this thing with little or no context," Sgt. James Fuqua, police spokesman said of the viral video, which has also been circulated by TMZ. "We're just getting annihilated publicly because they really think what they saw actually happened."
In the police version, captured by the body cameras of three officers and a pole-mounted video camera at the southeast corner of Broad and High streets, the unidentified man is seen standing and throwing water bottles, then two large plywood signs at officers.
The melee began after a few dozen protesters refused to move from the intersection between 3-5pm on Sunday.
Police, trying to prevent traffic from backing up and to prevent pedestrians from being struck, repeatedly asked the protesters to vacate the street and go to the sidewalks. When their instructions were repeatedly ignored, police used their bicycles to push the protesters back toward the sidewalks along Broad Street. One officer repeats loudly "Out of the road!"
Some of the protesters dug in with large plywood panel shields -- some covered in aluminum foil.
"This is just like a shield in combat," Fuqua said of the hand-made signs. "This isn't your kid's science fair poster board."
The protesters pushed back and tried to grab the officers' bicycles. Fuqua repeatedly said that officers showed restraint as protesters hurled water bottles and profanities at them.
The "bike barricade" is "the lowest level of force possible that is an approved technique," he said. "Actually lower than pepper spray."
About 4pm, video shows the shirtless man with prosthetic legs hurl a 4-foot tall sign, grazing the head and neck of an officer, who was not seriously hurt.
At least one officer who saw the attack ran to the man and tackled him, trying to make an arrest. Pepper spray was used on nearby protesters.
At least one mage on Twitter shows a man who appears to have a prosthetic leg falling backward with leg in the air and an officer pepper spraying him and others:
The officer holding the pepper spray is Nathan Hargus of the Columbus PD. After charging him, knocking him down, ripping his shirt, dislocating his prosthetics and dragging him across the ground, he is pepper-spraying him in the face as protesters attempt to shield him.
But Fuqua said several protesters pulled the man away and forced police back with their plywood barricades, handles on one side and messages such as "End Cash Bail" and "Fire Quinlan Now" facing away toward police.
Police did not pursue the man after he was pulled away, according to the video, which was shared with The Dispatch and other media Monday inside police headquarters outside Police Chief Thomas Quinlan's office.
Fuqua said none of the official video was altered except for brevity. There was no video of the man's prosthetic legs being separated. .
Fuqua said officers likely didn't know the man was a double amputee and that it wasn't relevant.
"We're continuing to hold the line, even though he just assaulted an officer," Fuqua said.
- additional reporting NZ Herald
