Biography
Shelby Crane, approximately 20 years old and an Ohio resident, was arrested at 3:45 AM on July 4, 2022, during protests in Akron, Ohio, sparked by the release of police body camera footage showing the fatal shooting of Jayland Walker by Akron officers. Crane was taken into custody by the Akron Police Department and charged with Riot (Ohio RC 2917.03), Failure to Disperse (Ohio RC 2917.04), and Misconduct at an Emergency (Ohio RC 2917.13). Crane was part of a wave of nearly 50 demonstrators arrested between midnight and 4 AM that night; court filings and investigative reporting confirm that these arrestees were jailed and held at least through the following day on what a subsequent federal lawsuit described as "copy-and-paste" arrest complaints in which "virtually every" officer statement contained identical boilerplate language alleging the person "took part in protest that turned to violent riot" and "failed to disperse when ordered to." The city of Akron maintained charges against the protesters through nearly a year of criminal litigation before all charges were dropped or the defendants were acquitted. In February 2024, Akron settled a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by 24 of the arrested protesters for $747,000, with the complaint alleging that police subjected demonstrators to unconstitutional mass arrests, beatings, tear gas, and pepper spray, and that the city imposed an unlawful curfew to suppress protest activity. Crane's arrest arose from participation in demonstrations protesting racial injustice and police brutality following Walker's killing, conduct protected under the First Amendment.