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News :: Miscellaneous |
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The Cincinnati Riots |
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by Dee LeComte
Email: seahorse (nospam) odyssee.net (unverified!) |
02 Jun 2001
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June 2, 2001 - The Cincinnati Riots
"Riot is the voice of the unheard" Martin Luther King once stated during the civil rights era. This April, Cincinnati experienced the biggest riot since just after the assassination of Mr. King in 1968. This article will try to explore some of what happened during this revolt and report on some of the lesser known injustices that led up to and took place during it. |
Early in the morning of April 7, officer Stephan Roach shot 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, who died in the ambulance at 3:02 a.m. Officer Roach supposedly heard something on the police radio describing the \"suspect\", then went after him on foot, before he shot at him in a dead-end alley. The only living witness that we know of so far is officer Roach… hardly a credible one. So what really happened?
The answer to this question will most likely never be clear, neither to the public nor to Thomas\'s family. Following standard procedure, the media immediately began to denigrate the victim and make a hero out of the State-funded killer. \"Suspect had 14 warrants\" was the headline in the news of April 7, whether on the TV, the newspapers or the radio.(1) However, these warrants, we find out later, are for misdemeanors and traffic violations, such as for not wearing a seat belt. When one puts this into context, these alleged \"crimes\" really mean that the victim was harassed while driving because he was Black (DWB - Driving While Black). When news of the shooting first broke out, there was no mention that Timothy Thomas was unarmed at the time and not violent. A few days later an article about officer Roach appeared, detailing how he had a degree in criminology, how he had worked as a fireman, how he was a really good guy, blah blah blah, how \"There is no evidence of complaints in Roach\'s personnel record\" and that he had an \"excellent work ethic.\" (2) Well, the Third Reich also commended its SS and cadre soldiers alike.
The victim was the fourth Black man killed by the local pigs since November 2000. He was the fifteenth Black man killed since 1995. To cite a couple of other recent examples: On November 7, 2000, Roger Owensby, 29, was killed while in police custody. He was approached by police in a convenience store, and when he tried to flee he was tackled, sprayed with a chemical irritant(3) and handcuffed. He died from asphyxiation, either by strangulation or a by compression on his chest. The next day, Jeffrey Irons, 30, was shot dead by police after allegedly trying to steal deodorant and soap from a grocery store.(4)
In Cincinnati, the Over-the-Rhine neighbourhood is made up of predominately Black residents; 90% live below the poverty line.(5) Not surprisingly, this is where the riots first broke out early in the morning of April 10, after the community had tried so desperately and patiently to get some kind of answers about the killing of Timothy Thomas, only to be totally ignored by local government officials and then later attacked by the pigs when they spontaneously began to demonstrate.
When residents went to the Monday council meeting, all the council members refused to hold a special meeting to discuss the fact that a police officer had killed an unarmed man. When confronted with the angry crowd, the mayor just got up and left, saying that he had another appointment. Council members insisted on discussing the matter of the killing at a later date. \"Fuck that, we\'re talking about it now!\" stated the angry residents. Council got upset and just ended the meeting.(6) Angela Leisure, the victim\'s mother, took the podium at one point and demanded an explanation for the shooting of her son. \"You took him from his family and his son, and we want to know why. And don\'t get me wrong, even when you tell me why, it\'s not going to make it better.\"(7) So one of the council members related a hearsay story, saying that, \"well what I actually heard was that Thomas was going for something in his pants.\"(8) There is a tape of the incident, which shows that the officer shot him in the chest at close-range. The TV stations replayed this video, over and over again (9)
Totally dissatisfied, the protesters took to the streets. Five hundred strong, they started by going in front of city hall. Then they went to District 1 (a police station that covers Over-the-Rhine). They chanted their demand for justice. Someone rearranged the flag in front of the station so that it flew upside-down for a while. The demonstrators continued by marching into their neighbourhood, the Rhine, where more and more people left their homes and their streets to join them. By the time they got back to the cop station there were some pigs on horseback and others in semi-riot gear waiting to greet them, ready to jump in. The protesters chanted. Then suddenly and without warning, the pigs on horseback moved in and one man was trampled. Monday night ended with the police dispersing the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets.(10)
Firsthand reports, both audio and written, state that come Tuesday people were pissed off. The pigs were out policing everyone, everywhere, but the marches of angry people continued. By Tuesday morning people went downtown to the business district and \"messed it up pretty bad\". There was a sentiment to smash anything that didn\'t pertain to the African American community, but belonged to people who don\'t represent them, people who they know are using them. To quote one resident, \"People aren\'t ignorant, people know,\" and \"One of the stupidest things I know is how the mainstream media is representing all this and making it seems like nobody knows what\'s happening.\"(11)
Although the protesting and rioting did start up in Over-the-Rhine, it spread to other impoverished neighbourhoods in the West End, economically the second worst-hit section of town. A lot of gentrification has been taken place in these areas and people are angry. At mid-day, on Wednesday, April 11th, people from the Bond Hill neighbourhood came marching, in solidarity with Over-the-Rhine. A resident said, \"It was a beautiful thing to see…. Until the police opened fire on them…\" They were shot at with rubber bullets and beanbag ammunition. Then Walnut Hills blew up. People were just sick and tired of police repression and economic exploitation. Despite outbursts of class war in other parts of the city, the majority of rioters were from the poorest elements of society: the Black populations of five neighbourhoods, Over-the-Rhine, Avondale, Bond Hill, Madisonville, and the West End (12)
As with many large cities throughout North America, poor neighbourhoods are being redeveloped and sold off to the rich. The residents of Over-the-Rhine are angry about the fact that the Main Street has been totally gentrified within the last few years. This street is now full of businesses that don\'t have any connection with the African American community. When a resident was asked by journalist Jenka from Indymedia what kind of businesses were there, she replied, \"A lot of bars that fraternities and sorority folks from the University of Cincinnati come down and go to. People who don\'t live in this community, people who don\'t even represent this community.\" She went on to state that during the riots \"Main Street had the shit kicked out of it.\"(13) Because of this gentrification, a lot of residents have been displaced. And the fact remains that the only people who come to these places are rich white folks who don\'t care about what happens to the poor. There are 250 abandoned buildings within a one-mile radius of the area. There are tons of decrepit buildings owned by the City, which doesn\'t even clean the streets in this neighbourhood, except for Main Street. (14) If it wasn\'t for social housing advocates, many in Over-the-Rhine believe that their whole neighbourhood would have already been taken over by yuppies.
Rioters were also targeting certain stores throughout the city. Deveroe\'s Clothing is a local chain in Cincinnati that sells sports apparel. Owned by a white guy who makes exorbitant profits, every outlet in city was trashed. Some stores were looted five times! Even after it was barricaded and boarded up, the looters just kept on coming back for more.(15) Billionaire Carl Lindner, who\'s family has a controlling interest in Chiquita Banana, of which it owns 40%, was also targeted in the riots. [see following article on Carl Lindner]. Chiquita is a multi-national company who\'s headquarters in Cincinnati came under attack during the riots, to be soon afterward protected around the clock by the Cincinnati police. Other companies, such as Kroger, were also being defended by the pigs.(16)
Everyone knew that there would be another council meeting on Wed., April 11th, at 2 p.m. (the news flew by word of mouth). By Tuesday the police brutality was out of hand. One woman said a neighbor just left his home and was shot in the neck. The woman held the man in her arms as he was bleeding from the sponge tipped bullet. Then another woman was fired at by the pigs. Folks said they were going to take this to the council meeting the next day, but at 4p.m Tuesday everyone heard, as was later confirmed, that the scheduled council meeting had been \"conveniently\" cancelled.(17) Journalist Katie Laur wrote that on Tues. April 10th, \"Police helicopters were buzzing low overhead, and the police were there in full riot gear long black coats, helmets, guns drawn, marching in formation, hitting the shields. I couldn\'t tell if they were my friends or my enemies. I couldn\'t see their faces. Behind them the camera crew of a local television news station was running in hot pursuit.\" This last line demonstrates once again that riots sell the news! One man told Katie Laur that downtown was trashed, \"as if a tornado had hit.\"(18)
Thursday, at 8:15, just after the beginning of the first night of an imposed 8p.m to 6a.m. curfew, we learn from a woman that, \"This is all about intimidation.\" She continues \"…definitely the mood and the climate that the police are creating is creating way more racial tension. I mean, racial tension exists in Cincinnati, but having a predominately white police force, like ...completely intimidates and puts fear into the entire black population of Cincinnati.\" While listening to this audio report with Indymedia\'s journalist Jenka, one can hear the helicopters hovering and the cops and rioters outside the woman\'s home. Jenka asks the resident \"What\'s happening now is that they have not declared a state of emergency but they are enacting this curfew?\" and the woman answers \"Yeah and what the mayor has said is that he needs to protect the streets, and he needs to protect private property basically. And to do this he wants to go ahead and put on a curfew and he thinks that\'s gonna solve the rioting or what happens during the night. And what\'s happening a lot during the evening, when it gets dark is that the police can\'t keep up with everyone because people are not necessarily doing things affinity group style, but they\'re breaking up into small cells and goin\' all over the city and they\'re hittin\' it in different places. And when they can\'t pass a police line, they break up in small groups and go around it. And they mess up stuff right behind the line, and they catch something on fire right behind that, and the police don\'t know how to respond so then the police literally walk. I was on the street last night until about 11:30...they were comin\' through, the police would come into intersections and just start firing.\" Jenka then asks the resident \"What were they firing?\" and she answers \"They\'d be firing the 1/2 inch rubber bullets -- the big sponge tips, or the beanbag, or the other thing they\'ve been shootin\' a lot of is that rubber buckshot.\"(19)
Poor Black people were not going to take this any longer. On April 11, Blacks started to shoot back at cops. \"[An] unidentified officer was shot just before 11 p.m. […] in Over-the-Rhine…\" The pig was wearing a bulletproof vest and so was not injured. \"The shooting of the officer was not the first time shots were fired at police Wednesday night,\" said Lt. Ray Ruberg.(20)
So what about Cincinnati\'s Mayor Luken, Police Chief Streicher and Fangman from the Cincinnati FOP (Fraternity of Police)? As mentioned earlier, Mayor Charles Luken totally ignored residents on Monday, when they came to the City Council meeting looking for some answers about the killing of unarmed Timothy Thomas by officer Roach. Luken did relay to the press that \"I have been told they (law enforcement officials) are troubled by the story they are getting from the officer.\" The initial findings don\'t back him up.\"(21) Also, \"Criminal justice sources, who would speak only on condition that they not be identified, agreed with the mayor. Evidence reviewed so far is not consistent with the officer\'s version of events,\" they said.(22) But even if the mayor initially spoke out about the killing of Thomas, this didn\'t stop him from imposing the city\'s first curfew since riots broke out in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.(23) Of course, Mayor Luken spoke on behalf of the business community and denounced the rioters. That\'s his job. All members of the City Council have received campaign monies from the likes of Billionaire Carl Lindner.(24) The curfew came into effect April 12 and was initially between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. To top this off, Luken knows how to manipulate the media in his favor better than most mayors, having previously been a local news anchor.(25)
Police Chief Tom Streicher would not discuss any possible findings, saying the shooting is still under investigation. \"It\'s inappropriate for anybody to make a call about what happened,\" he said. \"The integrity of this investigation cannot be compromised.\"(26) In other words, they had to work on the cover-up and didn\'t want any outside interference. Streicher himself has had a restraining order imposed on him since March 28, 2001 with regards to his estranged wife, who left him in May 2000. Excerpts from documents filed by Kathryn Streicher with the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court state that, \"During the term of [but not limited to] the marriage, the defendant has physically assaulted the plaintiff[…]\", by throwing her to the floor on numerous occasions, hitting her in the face, spitting in her face, threatening to kill her, throwing her over furniture; on occasions he tried to follow her friends and was constantly harassing Kathryn by phone, most often in a drunken state. (27) Steicher initially didn\'t refute these accusations in the media; however when the subject came up again, about two weeks later in the aftermath of the riots, he denied any wrongdoing. \"The chief stated in the news that his estranged wife \'has exhibited volatile and unpredictable behavior for some time and has been aggressive towards me.\'\" And he went on to say \"I have acted in a defensive manner in response to my wife\'s actions and have not participated in the abusive behavior she has described.\"(28) Ready to blame the victim of his attack…the same thing he\'s doing with the murder of Thomas by one of his officers: one reason why he makes such a good police chief.
Not surprisingly, the leader of the Cincinnati FOP, Fangman, defended the officers\' actions during the riots. Instead of answering about the 15 Black men, killed by white officers since 1995, he attacked the mayor, stating that Luken \"had the audacity to inflame this community prior to the start of these riots\' by making race an issue in the days following Thomas\' death.\"(29) Still on the defensive, he went on to say that, \"Our police officers are not some band of road Nazis, roaming Cincinnati and hunting black men.\"(30)
On Thursday, April 12, there was a meeting involving Black leaders from the NAACP, The Black United Front and Black religious leaders, etc. Although some frustrations may have been vented, it appears that this meeting was organized more to appease the rightful anger of poor Blacks in Cincinnati and to bring an end to the riots.
On Saturday, after two nights of curfew, the funeral of Timothy Thomas took place under a strained atmosphere in the community. Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher, Jr. said that no officers would be in the immediate vicinity of New Prospect Baptist Church in the Over-the-Rhine neighbourhood.(31) After the funeral, church and civic leaders took to the streets with approximately 2,000 other peaceful demonstrators. They marched through Over-the-Rhine, ending with a rally at Washington Park, in the heart of the neighbourhood where Mr. Thomas died.(32) \"As a crowd marched through Over-the-Rhine toward downtown following the funeral, a police cruiser pulled up, with officers firing beanbags with shotguns at the crowd at the intersection of 14th Street and Central Parkway.\"(33) The police later claimed that because of a \"bomb threat\" officers were brought in to the church before services began.(34) Bullshit! This empty excuse of \"bomb threats\" has been used all too often by police, who are nothing more than a bunch of pathological liars. When the officer had fired upon the crowd of mourners, they did this to provoke and attack them. These cops were real dogs, looking for blood. They gave no warning to their potential targets, who held placards, and ended up injuring three people, two of whom were aged 7 and 11. All three persons were shot in the head.(35)
In Cincinnati, 43% of the population is Black and it is Amerikkka\'s eighth most segregated city. Of the local 1,020 police officers, 28% are Black. Because of numerous comments from Fangman, the leader of the FOP, many Black cops are leaving the union.(36) Sgt. Andre Smith, one of the Black officers who resigned from the FOP union, said his resignation was prompted by \"years of disgruntlement\" and stated that, \"After this week\'s events, to see Mr. Fangman totally distort facts, disrespect the black community, disrespect our black leaders, I felt it necessary for me to remove what I felt the personal stench of FOP membership.\"(37) The Sentinel organization [the Police Union for Black officers] has been collecting anecdotes from citizens about problems with police in Cincinnati since the summer of 1999.
White cops attacking Blacks is nothing new in America. There is an epidemic of police violence, torture and murder against Black people in the US, especially the young males. This has even caught the attention and has been somewhat denounced by many different international organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. But what is never mentioned in the reports by mainstream national and international organizations is that these murders and brutality against Black people in the street of America, as well as the high incarceration rates of young Blacks (especially due to the War on Some Drugs), is part and parcel of America\'s ongoing genocidal plan against its Black population. What should be noted is that the police can invade Black communities to brutalize, terrorize, and murder its members with impunity. This could never happen without the consent, whether overt or silent, of whites. Except for some of those few bourgeois and middle-class Blacks who have bought into the American dream, the majority of Blacks, who are poor, know their enemies : cops, capitalism, racists and fascists.
Throughout the three days of rioting in Cincinnati, Black people in Over-the-Rhine were saying over and over again \"If they keep killing our people we\'ll just hit them where it hurts, in their pocket books\"(38) As a resident was speaking about what the Black people are saying about the real enemy, she reiterated that, \"A lot of people are talking about this actually having a lot to do with economics and class and not so much with race.\" and \"We got to stop beating each other up.\" and \" That we got to start righting who the real enemy is.\"(39) This spontaneous rebellion demonstrated to America that Black people are justifiably angry and they are not going to take America\'s state sanctioned terrorism in the neighbourhoods any longer.
Long-time Black political activist Lorenzo Komboa Ervin states correctly that, \"We are an oppressed people, who have the moral and political right to rebel. We are fighting oppression, and seeking freedom. We are opposing terrorism by military agents of the white government. We have been historically enslaved, and our youth are being imprisoned and killed in massive numbers, so we must fight back or become an extinct species. There are those who say that if we will only be \'peaceful\' those in power will listen to us. This has never happened, and truthfully none of the civil rights bills of the 1960\'s outlawing Southern segregation, and other concessions of that period, would have been passed if the white government was not afraid of Black people erupting in the streets. So street rebellion is effective.\"(40)
On May 4, in Louisville Kentucky, activists had planned a \"chaos day\". \"This is a call for a night of resistance against capital, against state , and against authority!\"(41) \"Every first Saturday [in May] there is a horse race called the Kentucky Derby. Over the decades this event has become an orgy of the elite, an opportunity to revel in their wealth and privilege, and an excuse for the Louisville cops to go completely berserk.\"(42) Whether Black people and their allies spontaneously rebel or plan events in advance, actions should remain steadfastly on a path towards freedom. We should unite to fight our enemies: cops, capitalism, racism and fascism.(43)
So what about the 837 people who were captured between Apr. 7 and 16 by the armed terrorist forces occupying the poor communities of Cincinnati. These individuals now face bail amounts up to $30,000! The prosecutor, Mike Allen, is out for blood. He has formed a task force, consisting of \"[…] 11 assistant prosecuting attorneys and six support staff and grand jury paralegals\" to work with him against the rioters. (44) Those arrestees accused of rioting and/or other serious charges could become totally \"lost in the system\".(45) This is a moment where solidarity is most needed. If anti-racist whites really want to support the Black community, they should ask it what kind of support work they might do. One suggestion could be to demand unconditional amnesty for all those arrested during this uprising.
The \"riots\" of Cincinnati were a rebellion against decades and even centuries of racism, brutality and discrimination. The \"rioters\" were/are freedom fighters, fighting for freedom against exploitation, both racist and capitalist. The media of course concentrates on the $2 million in damages that occurred during the three days of this revolt. But this amount of money represents nothing more than a drop in the bucket when compared to the centuries of economic inequality which people of African decent have had to endure in Amerikkka. This article only highlights a few of the injustices found in Cincinnati\'s local government and police, and is by no means fully documented. This uprising was/is the voice of those not listened to and it is about time that the middle class euro-americans listen up and act in solidarity.
When people are facing genocide they have no choice but to fight back or become extinct as a people. For Anglo-Saxon and other white peoples not to recognize what Black people are going through in America is to ignore the fact that injustice is the rule, not the exception in the day-to-day lives of the latter. Genocide takes the form of the ongoing mass imprisonment of Black and other peoples of colour; the police murder and torture of these peoples; the occupation of these peoples\' communities by unwelcome police forces; the everyday white supremacist attitudes by many whites; the outright racist attacks on individuals and communities of colour by neo-fascist individuals and organizations; economic impoverishment, etc. So whose side are you on?
Written in April 27, 2001 By Dee LeComte ______________________________________________________________________
Since this article was written many other factors regarding this police murder have come to light. The author encourages those persons interested to continue their own research. Some information can be found on the Ohio Valley Indymedia and Cleveland Indymedia sites as well as mainstream news on various news web sites, be them for television or for print. Also check out publications by and for people of African origin, many of which have web sites.
********************** 1. Police Fatally Shoot Suspect, Suspect Had 14 Warrants, CINCINNATI, 3:52 p.m. EDT April 7, 2001, WLWT Eyewitness News 5, http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-61056020010407-140407.html et al.
2. Who Is Officer Steven Roach?, CINCINNATI, 2:37 p.m. EDT April 11, 2001 WLWT Eyewitness News 5 http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news.
3. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio interview with resident who explains that the type of mace (chemical irritant) that the Cincinnati police use is a mixture of pepperspray and tear gas.
4. World Socialist Web, State of emergency declared, Three nights of rioting follow police shooting in Cincinnati, By David Walsh-13 April 2001.
5. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio interview with resident.
6. Ibid.
7. World Socialist Web, State of Emergency declared Three Nights of rioting follow police shooting in Cincinnati, By David Walsh April 13, 2001.
8. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio interview with resident who was at the council meeting in Cincinnati on April 9th, 2001.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati one of nation\'s most segregated areas, April 13, 2001, by Ken Alltucker.
13. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio interview.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. The Cincinnati City Beat, Tear Gas and Fear, volume 7, issue 21; Apr. 12-Apr. 18, 2001, by Katie Laur.
19. www.clevelandindymedia.org - audio interview with resident.
20. Police Officer Shot As Unrest Spreads, Bullet Ricochets, Man Unhurt, CINCINNATI, 10:20 a.m. EDT April 12, 2001 http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-64055920010411-150438.html.
21. The Cincinnati Enquirer, Initial findings may not support officer\'s actions, By Robert Anglen and Dan Horn, Wednesday, April 11, 2001.
22. Ibid.
23. CINCINNATI, Associated Press, Cincinnati\'s violence came after years of tension, April 13, 2001, by Liz Sidoti.
24. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio media report.
25. CINCINNATI Reuters, Cincinnati Wary of Crowds at Saturday Funeral, Friday April 13, by Bob Weston.
26. The Cincinnati Enquirer, Initial findings may not support officer\'s actions, By Robert Anglen and Dan Horn, Wednesday, April 11, 2001.
27. http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-56300820010328-130327.html, Excerpts From Streicher Court Documents, March 28, 2001.
28. Police Chief Denies Abusing Estranged Wife, Streicher Says He Defended Himself, CINCINNATI, 2:35 p.m. EDT April 16, 2001, http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-70867220010416-130426.html.
29. FOP Defends Officers\' Actions, Fangman Blasts Mayor, Claims Truth Not Told, CINCINNATI, 6:02 p.m. EDT April 13, 2001, http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-66846020010413-130448.html.
30. Ibid.
31. City Prepares For Funeral, Cincinnati Police To Keep Low Profile, CINCINNATI, 11:39 a.m. EDT April 14, 2001, http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-68344720010414-090459.html.
32. Cincinnati Enquirer, Calm returns after tense day, April 14, 2001, Updated 10:00 p.m., By James Pilcher.
33. Ibid.
34. Headline News, CINCINNATI, April 14, 2001 (UPI), http://cincinnati.areaguildes.net/news.html.
35. www.clevelandindymedia.org Police Violence Mars Mourning, CINCINNATI, OH, by Josh.
36. Black Officers Resign From FOP, Sentinels Criticize Misrepresentation, CINCINNATI, 12:41 p.m. EDT April 17, 2001, http://www.channelcincinnati.com/cin/news/stories/news-71273120010417-100432.html.
37. Ibid.
38. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio interview.
39. Ibid.
40. THE REST OF THE NEWS: BLACK PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO REBEL !!, by Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Tue Apr 17, 2001.
41. http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=34691, CHAOS NIGHT 2001 MAY 4 LOUISVILLE KY USA.
42. Ibid.
43. The author acknowledges the fact that there are many other \"isms\" that we should fight against as well.
44. The Cincinnati Post, Riot task force formed, By Kimball Perry, April 13, 2001.
45. www.clevelandindymedia.org audio report of resident. |
See also:
http://ohiovalleyimc.org/cgi-bin/imc.pl?where=display&article=453
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