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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Cincinnati Arrest Vigil |
Current rating: 0 |
by Mike Lehman
(No verified email address) |
10 Jun 2001
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This is a summary of the protests and subsequent arrests and vigil following the peacful march by 3,000 citizens against police brutality in Cincinnati on June 2. |
Following a peaceful march by some 3,000 protesters against police brutality in Cincinnati a week ago Saturday, a dozen protesters were arrested that evening during protests against selective enforcement of the curfew during the disturbances following the death of Timothy Thomas in April. This protest took place in the upscale, mostly-white Mount Adams area of the city outside a restaurant that had remained open during the curfew. The owner had police escort their clientele home after dining there. This was in contrast to the treatment of mostly-black areas of the city, where the curfew amounted to a lockdown of entire neighborhoods and people were afraid to leave their homes for fear of being shot by the police.
Police were clearly out to shut down any further protests at this point. A group of protesters blocked traffic at an intersection, but then moved to the sidewalk when ordered to do so by the heavily-armed police. People tried to continue the protest on the sidewalk, but were told to keep walking by police, who then proceeded to arrest 12 persons, including journalists from several IMCs who were attempting to document the arrests.
Those arrested were treated brutally by the police, including at least one woman pepper-sprayed pointblank in her face while already under restraint. One prisoner was worked over with a stun gun while in custody in the Hamilton County Jail, where a vigil was maintained for those arrested. Bails were set high, considering the charged offenses, and police were later quoted as saying there \"was no standard bail for protesters.\"
The vigil became a way of reaching out to the wider community when it was revealed that there are some 64 people still in jail from the disturbances in April following the death of Timothy Thomas. The vigil expanded to include them and their relatives, as many of the prisoners are being held in solitary under brutal conditions.
On Wed., one young activist was arrested after she fell asleep in front of the jail. Later that day, two more were arrested for chalking on the sidewalk. By the weekend, all those arrested during the most recent protests were free, but the vigil continues for the many people still in jail since April.
Emphasizing the need for empowered civilian oversight to watch over police and hold them to standards is the character of the current leadership of the Cincinnati Police Department. Chief Thomas Streicher of the CPD killed a unarmed suspect himself in 1980, has been the SWAT team commander and was promoted to chief in 1999. His own black officers have complained about his use of racial slurs during training sessions. His wife filed for divorce in March, claiming that he had physically abused her on numerous occasions.
This is Mike Lehman, with additional reporting by Sean Marquis, John Zeh, and others at the Ohio Valley IMC and Chris Kaihatsu and Doug Morris of Chicago IMC, with audio provided in part by the Studio 220 Collective.
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> http://www.mashriq.org/0002.wav 1:13
> http://www.mashriq.org/0003.wav :36
> http://ohiovalleyimc.org/media/cincibloc4.mp3 :26
> http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/arrest.mp3 2:59
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http://ohiovalleyimc.org/media/cinci.mp3 5:19 jay marx-DCIMC after release
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