----- Original Message ----- From: "thoucynic" <thoucynic at crosswinds.net> To: "F. Leon Wilson" <flwilson at infinet.com> Cc: "Jamal Hannah" <jah at iww.org>; <black-libertarians at flag.blackened.net>; <anarchy-list at lists.village.virginia.edu> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 7:07 PM Subject: Re: cincinatti riots (fwd)
"F. Leon Wilson" wrote:
>
> What is happening in Cincinnati this is a RACE riot.
>
> It should not be refereed to in any other manner than a RACE riot.
Being at Ground Zero here....
Yeah, that's a pretty significant component of what's going on, not entirely but there is a significant racial component. It simplifies a lot of what is going on.
There was a lot of simply "lets fuck shit up and take some loot" business floating around that had nothing to do with politics or race, pure thuggery. Many Black owned or operated businesses have been trashed than businesses owned by White non locals. Locally owned and operated businesses that were tight with the community. (Though the main street dot com and bar yuppie corridor was thoroughly trashed) almost ALL of the property damage excepting the afore mentioned race street business and a few other businesses was meted out in neighborhoods inhabited by blacks, a lot of the overt violence was directed at Blacks, neighborhoods trashed were by and large Black or in Norwood poor whites. A few local community businesses were spared (including one really popular Fish place) but really there were a lot of innocents fucked over on the first few days. After that everyone locked up early and put plywood over exposed windows so the property damage bit sort of died sown. Racial rage was a real component in the protests but a lot of the property damage had nothing to do with that.
A lot of the property owners and political elements in Cincinnati have been planning on running an "urban renewal" campaign through Over the Rhine, lots of property bought up in a low volume way, slowly rennovated, tennants sent packing, and trendy businesses brought in (mostly around main street). Fiber optic cable and telecom infrastructure laid in, streets that were formally one way converted to two way to route a lot of downtown traffic through certain neighbourhoods, splitting them in half effectivly and making the property in these coridors more valuable (due to exposure). After these riots this process will continue on an accelerated basis. Local efforts have tried to stop this, buying and rennovating property with community money and putting them to community uses or leasing them to business startups and recycling the rent/lease money back into community ventures. These people have been besieged by developer interests, they have only a couple of voices in the city council. who knows what will happen now.
Its sobering, I was actually smack in the middle of Over the Rhine at the time of the shootings, heard the shots, I thought that it was some gangbangers at the time... now I know better, pretty sobering now in retrospect.
In reality the riots are a lot smaller and more localized than the media is portraying around the country, and Internationally (I've had emails from around the world asking me if I was safe). Many of the protests have been peaceful with a bit of rioting by a few individuals, most of the protests and riots have been confined to Avondale, Eveston, and Over The Rhine, with some stuff going on in the city of Norwood. The curfews going on have been mostly regarded, there are not a whole lot of people going out, period. The first night 125 people were arrested, since then things were calmer.
Some folks are monitoring the police frequencies through this, so far over the last 3 or 4 days there have been a few shootings, (about 3 or 4 per night) and a few break ins, some kids fucking on tombstones in cemeteries (I kid you not) and a bit of stone/bottle throwing.
According to some eyewitnesses (White and black) The police instigated the riots when they roughed up some peaceful protesters, people were really doing nothing more than protesting peacefully, there was some shouting but things were reasonably clam until some of the police got nervous and started forcibly pushing protesters around and roughing up some people. Some people snapped, the rest followed. There was a peaceful protest organized by the socialist club at the University of Cincinnati, had a pretty nice sized turnout from across the political and racial spectrum they operated an open mike and anyone with a story to tell was allowed to speak.
The impression that I'm getting from folks outside of Cincinnati is a lot different from what is going on here. The media in Cincinnati have exaggerated some aspects of the riots while covering others. The police were definitely on edge the first few days and were roughing up anyone in the area, whether they were peaceful protesters or throwing stuff.
Cincinnati hasn't had anything like this in decades so reactions are pretty mixed. Some people sympathize with them, others have a more "law 'n order" type of attitude towards them ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And from right-wing Fox News..."We Report, You Decide!" 'Ya Right. Thanks, Roger Ailes! M.P.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,8815,00.html
Shouting, Mourning at Funeral for Black Man Slain by Cincinnati Cop
AP
Friday: Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher III answers questions at a news conference.
Saturday, April 14, 2001
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As angry protesters shouted outside a Cincinnati church, mourners attending the funeral inside streamed past the carnation-covered silver casket of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, the young black man whose deadly shooting by a white police officer sparked three days of violence in the city.
Ministers and Thomas' friends tried to calm the unruly crowd by telling them a peaceful protest was the way to express their displeasure with Cincinnati police. Thomas, who was wanted on multiple misdemeanor warrants, was unarmed when he was gunned down a week ago as he ran away from an approaching police officer.
His killing led to three days of violent demonstrations during which 86 people were arrested on charges of looting, arson, vandalism, and other violent acts in predominantly black sections of the city.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew for the third consecutive night Saturday, with no word on when it would be lifted. The 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was enacted Thursday in an effort to curb the unrest, and more than 350 people have been arrested for violating it.
About 30 local civil rights activists stood outside the New Prospect Baptist Church wearing yellow NAACP jackets and promising to act as a volunteer security force during the funeral.
African drum music pounded the packed area outside the church, where members of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam stood alongside members of the New Black Panther Party.
"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."
About 200 people surrounded the African drum band, waved African flags and held signs saying, "It Is Right To Rebel" and "It's Time To Shoot Back."
Patricia X. Cooley, 40, of Cincinnati, stood at the corner of Findlay Market, where much of the violence took place, and yelled into a microphone, "Racist cops you can't hide. We charge you with genocide."
The crowd quieted as Thomas' funeral service was broadcast on speakers on top of the church.
"This is more than just a funeral for one person," said Marty Milligan, 59, site manager for the Findlay Market.
Those in attendance at the funeral included Gov. Bob Taft, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, Martin Luther King III, and the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a Cincinnati preacher who enlisted Martin Luther King Jr. to lead civil rights demonstrations.
The governor wanted to pay respects to Thomas' family and show support for the city, said Taft spokesman Kevin Kellems.
"He has issued a call for a cooling off period and asked voices on all sides to tone down the rhetoric and give the prosecutor sufficient time to do his job," he said.
Also in attendance were family members of Michael Carpenter, killed by Cincinnati police in March 1999 following a traffic stop, and Roger Owensby Jr., 29, who died of asphyxiation while resisting arrest in November 2000.
Young and old kneeled to write messages on four white bed sheets at a playground across the street from the church. One note said, "Peace begins with Timothy and continues with me."
"If you knew Timmy and what kind of person he was ... this should have never happened," said a man who would only identify himself as Rich, 27. He said he and Thomas regularly played basketball together.
"My power forward is gone. I mean, he was my best friend. He was my heart and soul."
Worried that large crowds at the site of the funeral would wreak more havoc on the city, security guards had been standing sentry in the church vicinity all morning.
Streets, rife with violence earlier in the week, were relatively calm Saturday in the hours leading up to Thomas' 11:30 a.m. wake and 1:30 p.m. service. Both were held at the New Prospect Baptist Church in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, the impoverished area north of downtown that was the scene of most of the unrest. The church served for much of the week as a gathering place for black ministers trying to ease community tensions.
Police stayed in the background for Thomas' funeral. Police Chief Thomas Streicher said no officers would be in the immediate vicinity of the church during the service, though authorities heightened security in anticipation of large crowds at the church that holds 400 people.
"Our intent is not to be involved, to be seen anywhere, because we want to give the family members their respect and the opportunity to mourn for the loss of their loved one," said Maj. James Walker of the State Highway Patrol, which is assisting city officers.
City leaders hoped they had reached a turning point at the end of a week of anger and violence after Thomas' shooting. He was the fourth black man killed by Cincinnati police since November.
Police made 218 arrests overnight Friday and 153 arrests Thursday night for curfew violations. Late Friday into Saturday, officers put out two fires in trash containers.
The city's safety director, Kent Ryan, resigned Friday in what was seen as a victory for critics demanding changes at the police department. Black leaders had been asking for the resignations of Streicher and Ryan, who oversaw police operations.
Ryan, 55, cited personal and health reasons when he stepped down. He had suffered from chest pains earlier in the week.
"It is his decision," Luken said. "That's what I want to underscore."
Black leaders have urged an end to the chaos in the city of 331,000, which is 43 percent black. Several hundred people gathered downtown Friday for an interfaith service that included appeals for peace from Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders.
"The riots really got pathetic after a while," said Larry Sanderson, 18, who participated in the prayer service. "They were messing up their own neighborhoods."
Local prosecutors and federal agencies are investigating the shooting of Thomas, who was wanted on 14 warrants for misdemeanors and traffic violations when he was shot.
The president of the local police union said in a news conference Friday that 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."
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