The White House and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine are weighing in on the Circleville police officer who ordered his K-9 to attack an unarmed Black man who was surrendering to state troopers.
Circleville Police Chief G. Scott Baer said in a press release Monday that the Use of Force Review Board is still investigating the actions of Officer Ryan Speakman on July 4.
Inbody camera footage, 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose is seen surrendering to Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers with his hands up when Speakman arrives and orders his K-9 to attack Rose.
Baer said the city has no further comment until the investigation is complete.
Rose faces felony charges of failing to comply with police in Ross County after he led officers on a multi-county chase in a semi-truck in southeast Ohio between Chillicothe and Pickaway County. Police say they were trying to pull him over because of a missing mud flap.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke to reporters Monday and responded to a question from a reporter asking for reaction to the incident.
"I saw the stories," Jean-Pierre said. "It sounds horrific. But I don't want to go beyond that. It does sounds horrific as to what happened."
Jean-Pierre said she had no information on if President Joe Biden was updated on the situation.
DeWine also spoke to reporters about the incident on Tuesday and called for better training for law enforcement across the state.
"This incident in Circleville should be a lesson, a wake up call, to everyone that police training in the state of Ohio is not equal. It needs to be equal," DeWine said.
DeWine said he will be proposing adding a scenario-based training facility available to every law enforcement agency in the state in the next capital budget. He said smaller departments often don't have the same training opportunities as larger departments.
