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00:00:00Support
00:00:00for the Statehouse News Bureau
00:00:02comes from Medical Mutual,
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00:00:12More at Med mutual.com.
00:00:14The law offices of Porter,
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00:00:39This election year
00:00:39has already been busy,
00:00:41and there's still 90 days
00:00:41to go.
00:00:43We hear from journalists
00:00:43who witnessed an extraordinary
00:00:45event near the Ohio
00:00:45Pennsylvania border.
00:00:48And I'm Sarah Donaldson
00:00:48in Miami County,
00:00:50where some of the first legal
00:00:52recreational marijuana
00:00:52in the state
00:00:53was sold.
00:00:53We'll tell you all about it
00:00:55this week
00:00:55on the state of Ohio.
00:01:16Welcome to the state of Ohio.
00:01:18I'm Karen Kasler.
00:01:19Nine months
00:01:20after Ohioans
00:01:20voted to join more
00:01:21than 20 other states
00:01:21and legalizing
00:01:24recreational marijuana sales
00:01:24began this week.
00:01:27Home growing of plants
00:01:27and personal use became legal
00:01:30in December,
00:01:30but up until Tuesday,
00:01:32Ohioans could not legally buy
00:01:32marijuana here.
00:01:35One of the first
00:01:35official customers
00:01:37was Republican Representative
00:01:37Jamie Calendar,
00:01:39a legalized
00:01:40marijuana advocate
00:01:40who was invited
00:01:42to cut the ribbon
00:01:42at a dispensary
00:01:44in his district in northeast
00:01:44Ohio.
00:01:46My statehouse
00:01:46news Bureau colleague
00:01:47Sarah Donaldson
00:01:47went to pick one in western
00:01:49Ohio and talk to some of the
00:01:49earliest buyers. Karen.
00:01:52Some customers
00:01:52had some serious sticker shock
00:01:55when it came
00:01:55time to choose and check out.
00:01:57The products are at a premium
00:01:57right now,
00:01:59but everybody was still
00:02:00really excited and celebrating
00:02:00the long awaited day.
00:02:04For Ohio Cannabis
00:02:04Company owner Brian Wingfield.
00:02:07The wee hours of Tuesday
00:02:08morning felt
00:02:08reminiscent of late December.
00:02:11The only issue
00:02:11it was already 75F at 4 a.m.
00:02:15in Columbus,
00:02:16and I kind of felt like a kid
00:02:16on Christmas morning
00:02:19who got up before his parents
00:02:19did and knows
00:02:22you can't get out of bed yet,
00:02:22and he's just sitting there
00:02:25waiting for the appropriate
00:02:25time to get up and go
00:02:27start today.
00:02:28And I could not fall back
00:02:28asleep.
00:02:30The Ohio Cannabis
00:02:31Company is one of 98 licensed
00:02:31medical marijuana
00:02:34dispensaries across the state
00:02:35that can now sell to
00:02:35recreational of age customers.
00:02:39We're now in a place where
00:02:39Ohio cannabis consumers
00:02:43no longer need to go
00:02:43to the illicit market to buy
00:02:47unregulated, untested
00:02:47products.
00:02:49They no longer need to
00:02:51make the drive to that state
00:02:51up north
00:02:53and give their tax dollars
00:02:53to Michigan communities.
00:02:56We can keep all of that money
00:02:57right here in the Buckeye
00:02:57State.
00:02:59Tom Herron is with the Ohio
00:02:59Cannabis Coalition, or oaken?
00:03:03It's the trade association
00:03:05for the state's
00:03:05stringent marijuana market.
00:03:08The joke is we're the second
00:03:08most regulated industry
00:03:11right after nuclear power,
00:03:11for one.
00:03:13The Department of Commerce's
00:03:14relatively new
00:03:14Division of Cannabis
00:03:16Control has cameras
00:03:17on every corner
00:03:17of dispensaries properties.
00:03:20The division started
00:03:21notifying retailers
00:03:21on August 2nd of their
00:03:23operational certificates.
00:03:25It was the final puzzle piece
00:03:25most of them were waiting on.
00:03:28Before then,
00:03:29only cultivators, processors
00:03:29and labs had the certificates.
00:03:33So by the morning of August
00:03:345th, some customers
00:03:34statewide were met
00:03:36with lines outside and crowded
00:03:38waiting rooms inside
00:03:38dispensaries.
00:03:40Under the summer sun,
00:03:40a line of cars in the drive
00:03:43thru queue snaked
00:03:44around the black Brown Ohio
00:03:44Cannabis Company building.
00:03:47Todd Toner
00:03:48and his son Sean took a break
00:03:48from drywall installation
00:03:51and made the short
00:03:51drive over from Sydney.
00:03:53By the time we got here,
00:03:54there was already a line
00:03:54and everything.
00:03:56It was damn near
00:03:56packed already.
00:03:59His father says he didn't balk
00:03:59at the costs
00:04:01of their individual hauls,
00:04:01which
00:04:03included flour and edibles
00:04:03and an oral mist bottle,
00:04:06all concealed in black plastic
00:04:06bags.
00:04:09I didn't make special trips
00:04:10up to Michigan,
00:04:10but I know people who have.
00:04:12But like, yeah, you know,
00:04:12it's been up there so long
00:04:15that they've gotten
00:04:16so many dispensaries,
00:04:18they kind of flooded
00:04:18the market,
00:04:19and then they had to get
00:04:19competitive
00:04:20and their prices came down.
00:04:22They are holding out that Ohio
00:04:22will follow that trend.
00:04:25But Josiah Sharp
00:04:25let his medical card lapse
00:04:25prior to recreational sales.
00:04:29And now he's reconsidering.
00:04:31He bought one THC cartridge.
00:04:34To me,
00:04:34it would be silly to spend
00:04:35a lot more money than I needed
00:04:35to, because I know the value
00:04:39of the product
00:04:39and what it's worth.
00:04:40So I didn't go crazy today.
00:04:41It wasn't like a kid
00:04:41in a candy store.
00:04:43Wingfield says products
00:04:43are coming in at a higher cost
00:04:46because of concerns
00:04:46about shortages,
00:04:47maybe even 2
00:04:47to 3 months down the line.
00:04:50He says it will take time
00:04:50for growers
00:04:52to get their footing
00:04:52in the environment,
00:04:53which is much wider
00:04:53than medical only.
00:04:56And then we'll see the prices
00:04:56kind of drift back down.
00:04:58You know, as someone who's on
00:04:58both sides of the counter,
00:05:01you know, I'd like to see
00:05:01the prices come down too.
00:05:04He says he thinks those
00:05:04shortages will be most acute
00:05:07among plant products,
00:05:08rather than processed products
00:05:08like cartridges or oils.
00:05:11So far, Herron
00:05:11hasn't heard of any shortages.
00:05:15The cannabis
00:05:15industry is not immune
00:05:18from the laws of economics
00:05:18that apply in every single
00:05:21other industry.
00:05:22I think what you'll see
00:05:22over the next several months
00:05:26is, prices will continue to
00:05:26come down as supply increases.
00:05:31And despite the price
00:05:31now, sharp says he believes
00:05:34legalizing recreational
00:05:34marijuana
00:05:36should be seen as a high point
00:05:36in the state's history.
00:05:39Just being able to go in
00:05:39and even if you have to pay
00:05:41a little more and get it,
00:05:41that's a big deal.
00:05:42That's life saving.
00:05:43Herron says as many
00:05:44as 150 new dispensaries
00:05:44could pop up in the next year.
00:05:48Sarah Donaldson, Statehouse
00:05:48News Bureau.
00:05:51Ohio's ban on gender
00:05:51transition treatment
00:05:54for minors is now in effect,
00:05:54but the case is not over.
00:05:58Franklin County Judge Michael
00:05:59Holbrook upheld House Bill 68,
00:06:02which passed after Republican
00:06:03lawmakers overrode governor
00:06:03Mike DeWine veto in January.
00:06:07The decision
00:06:08comes from a lawsuit filed
00:06:08in March on behalf of 212
00:06:11year old transgender girls,
00:06:13whose families argued
00:06:14they would lose critical,
00:06:14medically necessary
00:06:16health care under House
00:06:16Bill 68.
00:06:18But Holbrook ruled the law,
00:06:20which also includes
00:06:20the ban on trans
00:06:22athletes and girls and women's
00:06:22sports,
00:06:24did not violate
00:06:25the single subject rule
00:06:25for legislation nor Ohio's
00:06:28constitutional amendment
00:06:28on health care freedom.
00:06:31Republican Attorney General
00:06:32Dave Yost said the law
00:06:32protects children
00:06:34from irreversible medical
00:06:34and surgical decisions.
00:06:38The American Civil Liberties
00:06:38Union of Ohio has filed
00:06:40with the 10th District
00:06:40Court of Appeals,
00:06:43Ohio's Republican
00:06:43candidate for U.S.
00:06:45Senate started a week
00:06:45long bus trip
00:06:46through the state on Monday
00:06:48in the hopes of raising his
00:06:48profile and name recognition
00:06:51as he runs against well-known
00:06:52Democratic incumbent
00:06:52Senator Sherrod Brown.
00:06:55Northeast Ohio businessman
00:06:55Bernie
00:06:56Marino kicked off the tour
00:06:56in Chillicothe
00:06:58talking about immigration,
00:07:00inflation
00:07:00and global instability.
00:07:02But he also told reporters
00:07:04about his plans
00:07:04to take on Brown,
00:07:05who has significantly
00:07:05outraised and outspent him.
00:07:09in polls right now.
00:07:10We're either even down
00:07:10two or down four.
00:07:12We were down five,
00:07:12six and eight.
00:07:14So now we're going to open a
00:07:14can bars on him and we'll see.
00:07:17I think jumping the ball,
00:07:17they're going to do it
00:07:20when people are paying
00:07:20attention.
00:07:21Before talking to supporters,
00:07:21Marino
00:07:23greeted
00:07:23some Democratic protesters
00:07:25who held signs blasting him
00:07:25over a $400,000 payout
00:07:29he made to former employees
00:07:31who sued him for wage
00:07:31theft in 2017.
00:07:34I'm frustrated because Bernie
00:07:34Marino has harmed workers.
00:07:38He's bad for Ohioans.
00:07:39He's bad for this community.
00:07:41And people are standing up
00:07:42and saying, no, workers aren't
00:07:42voting for Bernie Marino.
00:07:46We refuse to pretend that he's
00:07:46been good for workers.
00:07:49We refuse to pretend
00:07:49that he hasn't been
00:07:51in all kinds of legal trouble.
00:07:52And I just can't vote
00:07:52for a man like that.
00:07:55protesters organized
00:07:55by the Ohio Democratic Party
00:07:57followed Marino
00:07:57throughout his bus tour.
00:08:00Among those who came out to
00:08:00support Marino in Chillicothe
00:08:02was Tanya menendez.
00:08:03Retired from the county
00:08:03sheriff's office,
00:08:06she showed off two Trump
00:08:06themed tattoos,
00:08:08one of which she got
00:08:09after attending the January
00:08:096th, 2021, rally
00:08:12that became an attack
00:08:12on the U.S. Capitol.
00:08:156th. I was January 6th.
00:08:17So you are 100.
00:08:18I'm 100% Trump.
00:08:21I will not take more for that.
00:08:22How She said
00:08:23Marino's comments supporting
00:08:23Trump means he has her vote.
00:08:27All I can do is hope
00:08:27and believe.
00:08:29Just listen to his. His,
00:08:29All right.
00:08:32him talking to the crowd.
00:08:34Yeah,
00:08:34I would, I would, I would say,
00:08:36I think he's
00:08:36right there with it.
00:08:37He better be better be be out
00:08:37if he gets it back in.
00:08:42Sherrod Brown, who's leading
00:08:42in money polls and name I.D.,
00:08:46has not launched
00:08:46a high profile campaign tour
00:08:48but has made appearances,
00:08:48such as at the statewide
00:08:51Democratic gathering
00:08:51last month.
00:08:53Republicans have won
00:08:5480% of statewide elections
00:08:54in Ohio since 1990.
00:08:57That's likely to be
00:08:57a consideration for Brown,
00:08:59who is seeking his fourth term
00:08:59in the Senate.
00:09:02He hasn't said
00:09:02if he will campaign
00:09:03with Vice President
00:09:03Kamala Harris,
00:09:05but has said he will skip
00:09:05the Democratic
00:09:07National Convention
00:09:07starting August 19th.
00:09:10The first convention
00:09:10he will miss since 1994.
00:09:13The winner of this year's
00:09:14presidential election
00:09:14will make history.
00:09:16Either
00:09:16it will be the first Black
00:09:18and South
00:09:18Asian woman president,
00:09:19or the second president
00:09:20to serve
00:09:20two nonconsecutive terms,
00:09:22as well as being the first
00:09:23convicted felon
00:09:23to win the Oval Office.
00:09:26But this election season
00:09:26has already been historic,
00:09:28with Joe Biden becoming
00:09:28the first president since 1968
00:09:31and the eighth overall
00:09:31to leave the race.
00:09:34And with Donald Trump
00:09:34becoming one of almost a dozen
00:09:37presidents
00:09:37and former presidents
00:09:38to be shot at,
00:09:38and an assassination attempt
00:09:41that happened at a rally
00:09:41just over the Ohio border
00:09:43in Butler, Pennsylvania,
00:09:43last month.
00:09:45Among those covering
00:09:45the event was Julie Carr
00:09:47Smyth, an Ohio reporter
00:09:47for the Associated Press.
00:09:50My Statehouse News
00:09:50Bureau colleague
00:09:51Joe Ingles talked with her
00:09:51about it.
00:09:53It's, rural Pennsylvania.
00:09:56Hot summer day, sunny, 92
00:09:56degrees, muggy.
00:10:00it's a fairground.
00:10:01So, people are arriving
00:10:01on foot and in their cars.
00:10:06I saw couples holding hands.
00:10:08Lots of Trump signs.
00:10:10Trump merch.
00:10:11and there was just
00:10:11sort of a very casual,
00:10:15you know, this was Trump
00:10:15country 100%.
00:10:18And so it was very calm,
00:10:20and so but everything
00:10:20seemed to be going, fine.
00:10:23And it was much more relaxed
00:10:25from the Trump rallies
00:10:25I've been to in the past.
00:10:27There wasn't
00:10:27a lot of conflict.
00:10:28I wasn't seeing
00:10:28a lot of anger
00:10:31when I talked to people,
00:10:33there many of them,
00:10:33it was their first rally
00:10:36and they were super
00:10:36excited about it.
00:10:38like I say,
00:10:38it was on the fairgrounds.
00:10:39There were food trucks.
00:10:41you could imagine
00:10:41You know, the kind of thing
00:10:43an Ohio
00:10:43State Fair kind of atmosphere.
00:10:46so how
00:10:46close are you to the stage
00:10:48set at the scene for us
00:10:48as far as where you were,
00:10:51where President Trump, the
00:10:51former President Trump was.
00:10:55Right.
00:10:55So the the stage was sort of,
00:10:58set up in the front of this
00:10:58field, this big, farm field.
00:11:02And, you know,
00:11:02it was pretty elaborate.
00:11:05There were chairs
00:11:05and grandstands.
00:11:08And then, of course, the huge
00:11:08backdrop of that huge flag,
00:11:13which is sort of hurling
00:11:13that fur out
00:11:15unfurled there in mid-air.
00:11:17and the, the media
00:11:17section is right in the front,
00:11:21behind, let's say 20
00:11:21or 30 rows of chairs.
00:11:25my particular position
00:11:25within the media section
00:11:28was sort of toward the back
00:11:28because, as I said, I was
00:11:31I had been running
00:11:31a little bit late and,
00:11:33a lot of the spots
00:11:33that were under the bleachers
00:11:36and under the tents
00:11:36that were in shade were taken,
00:11:39there was all kind of media
00:11:40kind of tucked away
00:11:40where I couldn't see them.
00:11:42And so I was planted
00:11:42under a table in the far back
00:11:46because it was 92 degrees,
00:11:47and I was typing on my laptop,
00:11:47trying to do
00:11:49my voter interviews
00:11:51and that's usually the kind of
00:11:51the toughest part of my day,
00:11:55because getting in,
00:11:55getting those to the desk
00:11:58and then our Washington
00:11:59people will be watching
00:11:59the speech,
00:12:01maybe
00:12:01even have a copy of the speech
00:12:03in advance
00:12:03and have pre-written a lot.
00:12:05And so I'm just there
00:12:05monitoring,
00:12:07honestly for worst case
00:12:07scenarios.
00:12:10And the worst case
00:12:10scenario did happen.
00:12:13So tell us about that.
00:12:13Did you realize
00:12:16what was happening
00:12:16when it was happening?
00:12:18I think my first thought
00:12:18and many in the audience felt
00:12:21the same way.
00:12:22The first thought was, oh,
00:12:22it was a firecracker
00:12:24because we're coming right off
00:12:24July 4th.
00:12:26You've been hearing these
00:12:26a lot in your neighborhood
00:12:28or whatnot.
00:12:29And, then it just kept going.
00:12:32And now we now,
00:12:34I think that
00:12:34the shooter got off
00:12:35maybe eight rounds,
00:12:36and then you had the
00:12:36sharpshooters who shot back.
00:12:39So it was very apparent
00:12:39then that it was was shooting,
00:12:44and then, of course,
00:12:44the main knowledge came from
00:12:47the fact that Trump
00:12:47grabbed his ear and went down.
00:12:52He looked at the blood
00:12:52and then dropped,
00:12:54and the whole field
00:12:54just dropped.
00:12:56And then there
00:12:57sort of silence, confusion
00:12:57and people, I'm hearing
00:13:00people whisper, are you okay?
00:13:01To their family members
00:13:01and loved ones?
00:13:04And then a lot of people
00:13:04murmuring, what has happened?
00:13:06Is he dead? Has he been hit?
00:13:06What's happening?
00:13:09So people knew that
00:13:09it was shooting.
00:13:11what did you do?
00:13:12I can imagine that
00:13:12as a reporter
00:13:14you're
00:13:14trying to get the story,
00:13:15but then you're probably kind
00:13:17of in a state of shock
00:13:17yourself, right?
00:13:20Yes. I mean,
00:13:20I think in those moments, I
00:13:23all of that ran
00:13:23through my head.
00:13:24I remember
00:13:25running forward
00:13:26toward the stage to try to see
00:13:26what I could see,
00:13:29and what was happening,
00:13:29which at that point,
00:13:31Trump was already back down
00:13:31behind the podium.
00:13:34And so there wasn't
00:13:34much to see.
00:13:36And then running back toward
00:13:36where my laptop was
00:13:39because my phone signal
00:13:39was horrible at this location.
00:13:42And so I wanted
00:13:42they always are.
00:13:45And so I wanted to be
00:13:45by my laptop
00:13:46so I could tell people what was
00:13:50typing into our channel,
00:13:50shots have been fired.
00:13:54And it was I mean, the signal
00:13:54took forever for that to hit.
00:13:57They were probably already
00:13:58had an alert on the wire
00:13:58before I even could
00:14:00get back there and type that,
00:14:02and so I just dove under
00:14:02the table like everybody else.
00:14:05And I just sat under the table
00:14:05wondering what to do.
00:14:08eventually he stood.
00:14:10You could hear the, you know,
00:14:10the the crowd began to cheer.
00:14:15He had thrown his fist
00:14:15in the air.
00:14:17people began to stand up.
00:14:19So I stood up and immediately
00:14:21went to my phone
00:14:21and just began
00:14:23videotaping what I was seeing
00:14:23as people stood up.
00:14:27And then as they were directed
00:14:27by the police.
00:14:30Get out of here.
00:14:30It's time to go.
00:14:32So we knew he wasn't going to
00:14:32continue speaking.
00:14:35There was not going to be
00:14:35any more event.
00:14:37so I videotaped
00:14:37people being told to go.
00:14:41Then I went back
00:14:41up to the front,
00:14:42where a lot of witnesses
00:14:44and things had come to,
00:14:44to speak to the media.
00:14:47And, I was trying to capture
00:14:47some audio
00:14:50and video of those folks,
00:14:52talk to them, see
00:14:52if they had what we call UGC,
00:14:55like user generated content,
00:14:55which is if they took
00:14:58a video of me or had a photo
00:14:58that we might want at AP.
00:15:02and then
00:15:02this all got disrupted
00:15:05because people began
00:15:05sort of approaching
00:15:09the media stands and screaming
00:15:09at the journalists,
00:15:12this is your fault.
00:15:12This is your fault.
00:15:14And it was a very scary moment
00:15:14for everybody.
00:15:18and the police
00:15:18eventually came
00:15:20and took those people away.
00:15:22Right on the heels of that,
00:15:22the Secret Service came
00:15:25and screamed, you guys
00:15:25got to get out of here!
00:15:28The everybody's got to shut
00:15:28down.
00:15:30And normally,
00:15:31you know,
00:15:31they will let the media
00:15:31stay for a period of time,
00:15:34not a long period of time,
00:15:35but a period of time
00:15:35afterward,
00:15:37because our job really
00:15:37is on the back end of things.
00:15:40We have to do our writing and
00:15:40sending and after the fact.
00:15:43So, but they were like,
00:15:43you've got to leave right now.
00:15:46And they were sort of
00:15:46get out of here.
00:15:47This is an active crime scene.
00:15:49Now we got to get
00:15:49all the media out.
00:15:51And I heard radios and people
00:15:53being instructed
00:15:53to get us out.
00:15:55So I ran and got my stuff
00:15:55and I just started exiting.
00:15:59and then I started
00:16:00trying to interview people
00:16:01as I'm exiting
00:16:02because I knew that, like,
00:16:04all the witnesses are leaving
00:16:04fast. Yeah.
00:16:06And they kept on saying,
00:16:06you can't stop here,
00:16:08you can't stop here,
00:16:08and kept pushing us back.
00:16:10I did eventually only managed
00:16:10to capture,
00:16:132 or 3 witness interviews
00:16:13on camera people,
00:16:17a couple firefighters
00:16:17who were real
00:16:19nice to me,
00:16:19and they had helped with the
00:16:21victims of the shooting,
00:16:23the ones who were in the
00:16:23grandstands who have been hit.
00:16:27and so they told me
00:16:27their story.
00:16:29and then I spoke to a couple
00:16:29other people, at which point
00:16:33it was like
00:16:33the witnesses were gone
00:16:34and the whole place
00:16:34was kind of empty.
00:16:37Did you see any of
00:16:37the other people that were hit
00:16:39or any
00:16:39of the other casualties here?
00:16:43No, I mean, they all were
00:16:43going out behind the stage.
00:16:46So all of the like we did see
00:16:46LifeFlight helicopters coming
00:16:51and things like that and saw,
00:16:51people being whisked away.
00:16:54But all that was sort of
00:16:55happening up
00:16:55close to the stage
00:16:57where people weren't
00:16:57allowed to be.
00:16:59So, those people
00:16:59were taken away.
00:17:02But from where I stood,
00:17:02I could see the building
00:17:05quite clearly
00:17:05where the shooter had been.
00:17:09by this point,
00:17:10the there was law enforcement
00:17:10walking
00:17:12over the top of that roof.
00:17:15And that whole field
00:17:17that had been full
00:17:17just seconds
00:17:18before was completely empty.
00:17:20everybody's sort of,
00:17:20you know, the paper container
00:17:25for their cheese fries and
00:17:25their water bottles just left.
00:17:29Just everybody.
00:17:30Zoom went out. Wow.
00:17:32And then from there,
00:17:32it was just an odd,
00:17:36I mean, I probably lost track
00:17:37of the number of hours
00:17:37I was there, but I was one.
00:17:40It turned out
00:17:41I was one of the few
00:17:41journalists who stayed in
00:17:43because most of them
00:17:43had trucks in the
00:17:45in the parking area
00:17:45and had gone to their trucks
00:17:48where they could broadcast
00:17:48and do their work.
00:17:51And I stayed
00:17:51on the fairgrounds.
00:17:54So at one point, AP asked
00:17:54me to go up live on my phone.
00:17:59And so I
00:18:01basically that just entails
00:18:01putting a camera on the action
00:18:04and just putting it in a spot
00:18:04that can stay there
00:18:07for, let's say,
00:18:0730 minutes or 45 minutes.
00:18:10So I was doing that
00:18:11and for two, it honestly,
00:18:11while that was happening,
00:18:15I was listening to a family
00:18:15that was just talking about
00:18:19the whole day,
00:18:19what they had seen,
00:18:20what they thought,
00:18:20and whatever.
00:18:21And so as soon as this
00:18:21live shot went down,
00:18:25I walked over to them
00:18:25and I said, I'm sorry.
00:18:27I couldn't help but overhear.
00:18:28Would you say that
00:18:28on camera for me?
00:18:30So I got that whole family
00:18:30and their story and
00:18:35their thoughts
00:18:35on camera as well.
00:18:38you know, I noticed,
00:18:38when I as a,
00:18:41you know, I was watching X
00:18:41and I noticed all the tweets
00:18:45coming out of there.
00:18:46Are they access? I'm
00:18:46not sure what they are.
00:18:48The comments coming
00:18:48out on, on that platform.
00:18:52and, and it
00:18:52seemed like almost immediately
00:18:55there were all kinds
00:18:55of conspiracy theories
00:18:58and accusations
00:18:58made against people.
00:19:02Were you hearing that
00:19:02immediately
00:19:05on site, or were people
00:19:05more shocked than anything?
00:19:08I mean, how that play out
00:19:08there?
00:19:10yes,
00:19:10I was definitely hearing that.
00:19:14For example,
00:19:14these folks who were screaming
00:19:16at the media,
00:19:16it was it's all your fault.
00:19:18It's all your fault.
00:19:18You have caused this.
00:19:21So that is sort of
00:19:21the underlying
00:19:23feeling of a lot of people
00:19:23is that somehow the media,
00:19:30way of covering Donald Trump
00:19:30over these last years,
00:19:34disliking him.
00:19:34is to blame for people
00:19:37Now, at that time,
00:19:37we didn't know
00:19:38this was a single shooter
00:19:38working alone, 20 years old.
00:19:42His motive
00:19:42is still somewhat in question.
00:19:45but then other
00:19:45people were saying that,
00:19:49the hand of God had saved him,
00:19:52because he turned his head
00:19:52at just the right minute.
00:19:54And instead of that boy
00:19:55going through his head,
00:19:55it hit his ear.
00:19:58there were other ideas
00:19:58that this was them.
00:20:01And I would ask people, well,
00:20:01who is them?
00:20:03While
00:20:03that they're out to get us?
00:20:04They're out to get Donald
00:20:04Trump.
00:20:06And really, they were not
00:20:08they had a lot of theories,
00:20:08but what they were able
00:20:10to tell me in terms of who
00:20:10them is was unclear.
00:20:15did you notice anything
00:20:15different about the security
00:20:19at this event versus
00:20:20other outdoor Trump rallies
00:20:20you've attended?
00:20:24Well, you know,
00:20:24I can only say for myself.
00:20:27So as I mentioned,
00:20:27I was kind of running late.
00:20:29they allow me through,
00:20:29which they often do because,
00:20:33you know, you're AP
00:20:34and they know
00:20:34that you kind of serve the
00:20:37a lot of the newspapers
00:20:37and the broadcast stations.
00:20:39And so, they did
00:20:39let me through.
00:20:42They inspected my bag
00:20:42and everything like that.
00:20:44And I did have to go
00:20:44through, vice as well as a
00:20:48pat down and all that stuff.
00:20:50but then
00:20:50when I got to the media area,
00:20:52I couldn't find the,
00:20:52the entry way for it.
00:20:56And so one of the women there
00:20:56said, well, that other girl
00:21:00just jumped the fence,
00:21:00and so we can help you.
00:21:04And so I put my bags
00:21:04on the other side of the media
00:21:06fence, and I climbed over it.
00:21:09And so there's evidence that
00:21:09at least two people did that.
00:21:12And my normal experience
00:21:12would have been
00:21:14that could have happened.
00:21:15But normally someone would
00:21:15have run up to me and said,
00:21:18where's your credential?
00:21:18Who are you?
00:21:20Why are you in here?
00:21:20And that didn't happen.
00:21:22So that was my experience.
00:21:24The other thing was, as I
00:21:24said, it was a very relaxed.
00:21:27One of the people
00:21:27that I talked to,
00:21:29a couple of days later,
00:21:29I was sent to
00:21:31the town of Butler,
00:21:31where I did
00:21:33a lot of voter interviews,
00:21:33and people said, you know,
00:21:36this is Trump country.
00:21:37Maybe our guard was down
00:21:37a little bit
00:21:39because we thought,
00:21:39how could that happen?
00:21:42And this local lawyer
00:21:42said to me,
00:21:43I told my friend,
00:21:43well, when, when,
00:21:45the Pope got shot,
00:21:45he got shot in Vatican City.
00:21:49So they look at it
00:21:49as the same way, sort of.
00:21:51They just he was at home
00:21:51and maybe people
00:21:54weren't as vigilant
00:21:54as they might have been
00:21:58in covering the story.
00:22:00Was there anything unusual
00:22:00or remarkable
00:22:03that you took away from it?
00:22:07People
00:22:09at that moment were almost
00:22:12universally hoping for,
00:22:12a tone that is more
00:22:18calm, that is more caring and
00:22:21and loving toward
00:22:21other people.
00:22:23I think that that was
00:22:23this was right around,
00:22:27you know,
00:22:28when everything was and has
00:22:28been going crazy for so long.
00:22:32And that was the take away,
00:22:32was that most people,
00:22:38you know, were praying for
00:22:42Donald Trump.
00:22:43Praying for Joe Biden's health
00:22:43at that time
00:22:46were just,
00:22:49feeling like Americans
00:22:49who were sort of stuck
00:22:53in this crazy world
00:22:53that we're stuck in.
00:22:57so has this affected I mean,
00:22:57would you be comfortable
00:23:01covering another Trump
00:23:01rally outdoors like that?
00:23:04And how has this experience
00:23:04changed you as a reporter?
00:23:07Is there going to be things
00:23:09red flags
00:23:09that you're going to be
00:23:11looking for in the future?
00:23:13I think I would be
00:23:14I would be better at it
00:23:14a second time,
00:23:17but I do not wish for a second
00:23:17time.
00:23:19I will say, you know, it
00:23:19it took some time.
00:23:24It took,
00:23:24the better part of that week
00:23:27to sort of ground myself
00:23:27and calm down.
00:23:29and then I was assigned
00:23:29to cover a J.D.
00:23:32Vance
00:23:32rally the following Monday.
00:23:36and it was indoor rally,
00:23:36but I call that kind of like
00:23:39getting back on the horse
00:23:39and I was nervous about it,
00:23:42but I was glad that I did it
00:23:42because basically I,
00:23:47you know, I made it there,
00:23:47I got through it was a
00:23:50it was a nice,
00:23:52upbeat, pretty straightforward
00:23:52event, like the kind
00:23:55of covered in the past.
00:23:56But I do find myself
00:23:56wondering,
00:23:58will these sort of relax,
00:24:00sort of political rallies
00:24:00even be a thing of our future,
00:24:04in that
00:24:04kind of an outdoor venue?
00:24:08What are
00:24:08your big takeaways from this?
00:24:10What did you learn from
00:24:10this that you didn't quite
00:24:13think about or know
00:24:13about before?
00:24:20well, like I say, everybody
00:24:20I have been speaking to out
00:24:23there is it's a little tender
00:24:28and I hear a lot of kindness
00:24:28that people have
00:24:35on the ground, average
00:24:35American people.
00:24:38And, for me, you know,
00:24:38I kind of took that away.
00:24:42I also,
00:24:44I was I was pretty
00:24:44proud to be a journalist,
00:24:47even though, you know, it
00:24:47immediately started that
00:24:50people said,
00:24:50you know, this wasn't true.
00:24:53Things were being made up
00:24:53that, you know, every word
00:24:57they were hanging on.
00:24:58And of course, in those early
00:24:58moments, you're pushing out
00:25:01versions and versions
00:25:01and updating as you know more.
00:25:05And the idea that
00:25:05those versions are somehow
00:25:09tainted or intentionally
00:25:12spun in some way,
00:25:12is just not accurate.
00:25:15And so I think in the end,
00:25:15I felt like our coverage was,
00:25:19was, pretty good.
00:25:21And I thought that it was
00:25:23validating to
00:25:24me as a journalist to,
00:25:24to serve that role for people.
00:25:28And that is it for this week
00:25:28for my colleagues
00:25:30at the statehouse News
00:25:30Bureau of Ohio
00:25:31Public Radio and Television.
00:25:31Thanks for watching.
00:25:33Please check out our website
00:25:33at State News Talk
00:25:36or find us online by searching
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00:25:39from the Bureau
00:25:41on our podcast,
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Note : Transcripts are compiled from uncorrected captions