COLUMBUS (WCMH) — While US Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke to a large crowd inside the Columbus Police Training Academy on Hague Avenue, others protested outside.

About 25 protesters showed up at the Columbus Police Training Academy to protest Sessions’ speech on what can be done with the opiate epidemic.

The protest, organized by the People’s Justice Project, held up signs that spoke volumes, “rehab beds instead of jail beds.”

“What if our community was a place where anybody who wanted recovery could get it?” said Molly Shack with the People’s Justice Project. The crowd responded enthusiastically.

Although there was a large police presence quietly monitoring the group, they were allowed to assemble in front of the academy.

“At my church I have lost two members who died because of the opiate addiction overdoses. If you look at the statistics in the Hilltop, it is a big issue. It is a big issue in the state of Ohio,” said Hilltop Community Worship Center Pastor Jason Ridley.

Protesters said the Trump – Sessions message of looking for lawbreakers won’t fix the rising drug epidemic.

“Victims who are dealing with opiate addiction should not be criminalized, they should be treated like victims who need our help,” Pastor Ridley said.

The protesters wanted Sessions to see their signs when he arrived, but instead he was flown in overhead in a helicopter.

“We have to have a conversation in this country about why we try to criminalize our way out of problems we can’t fix that way,” Shack said.

Sessions told the audience inside “we need to return to tougher tactics.” The protesters said we need more compassion and rehabilitation spaces.