- Sarah Grossman, 22, died two days after attending a protest in Columbus, Ohio, where she was exposed to tear gas.
- The Montgomery County Coroner's Office is investigating Grossman's death, which circulated widely on social media.
- The coroner's investigation could take eight weeks.
- Grossman "stood up to end police brutality and was tear gassed as a result," Stauf's Coffee Roasters, where Grossman worked, said on social media. "Her death came in the aftermath, but her legacy stands even stronger."
- American police have used tear gas, which is banned from warfare, against protesters across the country.
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Sarah Grossman, a 22-year-old living in Ohio, died on May 30.
Two days earlier, she was protesting the police killing of George Floyd when police fired tear gas and pepper spray at the crowd, exposing her to the irritants.
On the evening of May 28, Grossman was at a protest in Columbus, where she was "exposed to tear gas and pepper spray ... discharged by police as part of crowd control," according to records from the Montgomery County Coroner's Office seen by the Dayton Daily News.
The office's full autopsy could take eight weeks, according to the Dayton Daily News.
In its preliminary autopsy, the coroner's office reported that family members took Grossman to Sycamore Hospital in Miamisburg, about 80 miles southwest of Columbus. That autopsy found that Grossman may have died from an overdose. Her family said she did not have a history of drug use.
Her sister, Jesse, said Sarah was "one of the most kindest, beautiful souls."
"As some of you know, on 5/30 we lost one of the most kindest, beautiful souls, my sister Sarah," she said on social media. "If you had ever met Sarah, you know that she impacted every persons life that she touched. She never cared about what anyone thought of her, only caring about helping others."
"As a peaceful protestor this weekend, [Grossman] stood up to end police brutality and was tear gassed as a result," Stauf's Coffee Roasters, where Grossman worked, said on social media. "Her death came in the aftermath, but her legacy stands even stronger."
Police forces have fired tear gas and pepper spray, among other less-lethal munitions, at protesters across the country.
- Read more:
- Tear gas is banned from war — but police still shoot it at protesters, who cough and bleed as a result. At least one has lost an eye.
- The man who drove his truck into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Virginia is a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, prosecutor says
- A Philadelphia police officer smacked a protester in the head with a metal baton. His police union is selling T-shirts defending him.
- Police departments across the country are banning chokeholds and other 'deadly force' techniques in the wake of George Floyd's killing
- UN experts slam 'modern-day racial terror lynchings' in the United States, demand immediate reform
