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Violence Breaks Out in Cincinnati After Acquittal of White Police Officer
Violence broke out in Cincinnati, Ohio, about 12 hours after a white police officer was acquitted of all charges Wednesday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man that sparked one of the worst riots in the US city.
Cars were pelted with rocks and bottles, fires were set, prompting Mayor Charlie Luken to impose an overnight curfew and issue a state of emergency, reports reaching here said.
"All the officers in the area are going to helmets and shields, " said police spokesman Kurt Byrd.
At least two news vehicles were damaged by rocks or bottles. One car was set on fire, and there were at least six trash-can fires. One arrest was made, Byrd said.
Police called in backups and put all officers on 12-hour shifts because of the outbreak, but Byrd said most of the violence had subsided by the time the curfew was imposed.
Hamilton Country Municipal Court Judge Ralph E. Winker, after hearing the trial without a jury, ruled Wednesday that Stephen Roach was justified in the shooting of Timothy Thomas, 19, in a dark alley on April 7.
Roach had been charged with negligent homicide and obstructing official business after he shot Thomas dead. He claimed that Thomas ignored his orders to show his hands and appeared to go for a gun when he shot. Thomas was wanted on 14 minor charges, including running from police.
The shooting was followed by three nights of rioting in which dozens of people were injured and more than 800 arrested. It was the worst riot in the city since Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968.
Thomas' mother, Angela Leisure, said she still didn't believe it was necessary for Roach to shoot her son. She said Roach should have been convicted to send a message to a police department that has been accused of mistreating blacks.
"I wanted my son to be the last (to be shot) -- but he won't be the last," Leisure said. "Until serious changes are made in our police department, this will happen again."
Cincinnati is a southern Ohio city of 331,000, 43 percent of whom are black. The blacks alleged that police were targeting blacks. Thomas was the 15th black suspect killed by police since 1995, a period in which no white suspects were killed.
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