Protesters Near Cincinnati Funeral
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:27 p.m. ET
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Police fired bean bags at about a dozen demonstrators after the funeral Saturday of an unarmed black teen-ager killed by a police officer.
The demonstrators were among several hundred demonstrators who brandished signs and chanted slogans outside the service. No serious injuries were reported, and authorities were investigating what prompted officers to fire.
``They just pulled up and starting shooting at us,'' said a sobbing Christine Jones, 34, of Louisville, Ky.
Calm was restored after police Chief Thomas Streicher met with religious leaders in the crowd.
Protesters waved signs saying, ``It Is Right To Rebel'' and ``It's Time To Shoot Back'' as hundreds of mourners at the New Prospect Baptist Church filed past the open silver casket of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, the fourth black man killed by police since November.
``Racist cops you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!'' shouted Patricia Cooley, 40, who was leading the crowd of about 300.
``We're standing up for all of us who police have mistreated,'' Cooley said. ``We're tired of this.''
The shooting of Thomas, who was wanted on 14 warrants for misdemeanors and traffic violations, led to three days of rioting. A dusk-to-dawn curfew enacted Thursday was extended to Saturday night, and officials have not said when it will be lifted.
During the rioting, more than 200 people were arrested in looting, arson, vandalism, and other violence in mostly black sections of the city, said police spokesman Lt. Ray Ruberg. About 350 were arrested for curfew violations, he said.
The shooting is under investigation by prosecutors and federal agencies, and the Justice Department's civil rights division has sent lawyers to Cincinnati to study the practices, procedures and training of the police department.
Attorney General John Ashcroft, in response to a request from Mayor Charles Luken, began the inquiry Friday to determine if a wider investigation was warranted.
Also Friday, the city's safety director resigned in what was seen as a victory for critics demanding changes at the police department.
The president of the local police union said officers would accept whatever happens to Stephen Roach, the officer who shot Thomas. Roach is on paid administrative leave.
``From what we've been told, the suspect was not armed,'' Keith Fangman said. ``So it's natural that there should be questions. The community has every right to get answers to those questions.''
African drum music could be heard Saturday throughout the packed area outside the church where members of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam stood along with New Black Panther Party members in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, an impoverished area north of downtown that was the scene of most of the rioting.
``There's outcry and righteous indignation going on here,'' said Farrakhan spokesman Jamil Muhammad. ``This could have happened anywhere in America. We're in a society that devalues us as black men.''
Gov. Bob Taft, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume were among those attending the funeral.... *****
***** Three Hurt in Cincinnati After Suspect's Funeral
April 14, 2001 08:24 PM ET
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - A woman and two young girls were struck on Saturday by beanbags fired by police shortly after the funeral of a young black man who was killed by a white police officer a week ago.
Several witnesses told reporters that the incident seemed provoked by police zeal to clear the Over-the-Rhine area near where the funeral took place and to prevent disorderly crowds from forming.
Demetrius Lowry, the mother of a 7-year-old girl who was hit in the leg by a beanbag, told Reuters: "That could have started a riot right there. We weren't doing anything except walking to a barbecue store when this police car pulled up and the cops jumped out and started firing."
Also injured were her 11-year-old niece and a woman from Louisville, Kentucky, who bled from a leg wound and was treated at the scene.
Minutes later, a large police contingent arrived at a nearby intersection and brandished rifles to disperse a crowd that had congregated after the funeral. A tense standoff followed, but no shots were fired as clergymen and officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People met with police to defuse the situation.
The Rev. Damon Lynch Jr., who had officiated at the funeral of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, arrived on the scene of the confrontation at the busy intersection and joined in the mediation effort about 4:30 p.m. EDT.
"I'm just going to sit here, and when the curfew comes (at 8 p.m.), I'll still be here," the gray-haired pastor said.
UNARMED, RUNNING
Thomas, who was unarmed but running from Officer Steve Roach when he was shot on April 7, became the 15th young black crime suspect to be killed by the Cincinnati police since 1995 and the fourth since November. Roach has said he thought Thomas was reaching for a weapon.
By prearranged agreement, uniformed police were posted some distance from the church in hopes their absence would ensure calm among mourners leaving the service.
It appeared that that might prevent a renewal of the rioting that rocked Cincinnati this week -- at least until the shooting incident several blocks south of the church.
Among the speakers at the funeral was Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who told the mourners that the shooting of Thomas by Officer Steve Roach was "a tragedy, not only for his family, but for the state of Ohio as well."
"I pray today will be the beginning of the healing process," Taft said.
Mayor Charles Luken and Kweisi Mfume, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also addressed the audience of about 500.
Another 500 or so people listened to the service on loudspeakers outside. They applauded the victim's mother and family when they left the church.
When the casket was carried from the church for private burial, several members of the New Black Panther Party formed an honor guard and gave a black power salute to the slain youth.
MEALS SERVED
The funeral called forth a gesture of reconciliation by members of a white Protestant church, who spread sheets on the ground and served 3,000 meals to anyone who wished to be fed in the riot-scarred Over-the-Rhine area.
Matt Massey, 35, a teaching pastor at the suburban Vineyard Church, said, "We're here to try to bring reconciliation and show we care about our community."
An Easter eve curfew threatened traditional sunrise services for many churches in the area. No one is allowed on Cincinnati's streets between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. EDT except to go to or from work or deal with medical emergencies.
Pressured by some business interests suffering economic losses from the curfew, the mayor said he hoped it could be discontinued soon but that would depend on what happened in the streets on Saturday night.
Since the curfew went into effect on Thursday, there has been a sharp reduction in violent incidents. The total of curfew arrests on Friday night and Saturday reached 218.
Evidence from Thomas' shooting was to be presented on Monday to a grand jury to determine if the shooting was justifiable. The FBI and the Justice Department have both opened investigations of Cincinnati police practices and conduct.
Keith Fangman, president of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police, said nearly all the shootings had occurred in self-defense when suspects with weapons confronted officers. *****