J2. Cincinnati. First-hand report of brutal arrests at police brutality rally.

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Sat Jun 2 23:02:38 2001 -- Calling a Curfew - A Citizens\' State of Emergency
http://ohiovalleyimc.org/cgi-bin/imc.pl?where=display&article=467

Doug Morris and Chris Kaihatsu :Chicago IMC

- JUN. 2 - At an organizing meeting on Friday night Anti-Authoritarian Block (AAB) organizers outlined a plan to do a lockdown in the Mt. Adams area of Cincinnati.

Black community leaders had previously criticized white youths -- some from outside Cincinnati -- for disrupting the anti-Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue protests in the city last November. Organizers for the June 2nd March on Justice suggested that the AAB should protest in white areas. AAB organizers were very concerned about possible police recriminations in black neighborhoods. They agreed to respect march organizers\' requests and build solidarity by holding a separate action.

Organizers planned a lockdown action in Mt. Adams, an upscale white neighborhood. Mt. Adams was not held to a curfew during the rebellions after the killing of Timothy Thomas in April. The AAB called a citizens\' state of emergency in resistance to police violence. The lockdown symbolized the imposing of a citizens\' curfew in the white, upscale neighborhood of Mt. Adams.

After a March for Justice of three thousand during the day, 100 direct-action activists gathered in Seasongood Pavillion in Eden Park by 6:00 pm. They marched a short distance to Mt. Adams.

Ten minutes later the protesters blocked the intersection at St. Gregory and Hatch. About fifty officers quickly surrounded the protestors on all sides. Several had rifles. Police warned that arrests would be made unless protestors cleared the intersection. After conferring, protestors moved to the sidewalks and linked arms.

David, a writer for Street Vibes (a newspaper by a homeless coalition in Cincinnati), began loudly criticizing the police presence and their prior behavior. At this point Assistant Chief Janke ordered officers to arrest David.

Police moved in and began pulling away several activists from the larger group. They arrested several women, forcing them to the ground. Once they were face-down, the officers pepper-sprayed them. Several were retching from the treatment and had very red faces. In a matter of minutes, twelve persons were arrested.

Two Independent Media Center journalists observing the actions were arrested. Madhava from NYC-IMC asked police a number of times why he was being restrained from observing and was pushed away from the activists. He was arrested forcefully. Jay from DC-IMC was on the sidewalk and was beginning to walk away, per officers\' orders, when he was grabbed without explanation and taken down by four police officers.

Chris of Chicago IMC was pushed from behind even though he was walking and was told to \"go join your friends.\" Chris said, \"I am walking.\" The officer responded, \"No you are not. You are writing.\"

We asked Assistant Chief Janke why he ordered the arrests of nonviolent protesters on the sidewalks. He responded, \"People were arrested for disorderly conduct and blocking streets.\"

The arrests occurred after people had moved onto the sidewalks. Asked about the force used, he replied, \"We had intelligence from a protester\'s flyer that destruction of property was intended.\" During the action AAB activists had repeatedly communicated to police that this protest was nonviolent.

It is ironic that a nonviolent protest against police brutality was shut down quickly by brutal police force. The lockdown was a symbolic victory in protesting the police violence in Cincinnati. The AAB youths demonstrated solidarity with the minority community by calling attention to the preferential treatment of whites.

Updates on arrested protesters are at ovimc.org.




Comment on this article.

Sun Jun 3 10:26:12 2001 -- This was a very brave action
NukeCincinnati - whatever@blahblah

I lived in Over-the-Rhine for five years and I saw much, and was a victim of some, police violence. The Hamilton County police department is a fascist outfit. I think this is the first time anyone has really stood up to them and I just want to say \"Thank you.\" You did something very powerful and brave, and the realization of your actions will slowly be felt across the region.
Let\'s make this the FIRST action against those fascists, and let\'s make sure there are many, many more of us there next time.

Wobbly


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--- end of first-hand report (and reply) at Ohio Valley Indymedia

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Here is another (second-hand) report:

Sat Jun 2 20:04:19 2001 -- Reports from two jailed protesters
http://ohiovalleyimc.org/cgi-bin/imc.pl?where=display&article=462

- Two women, Cathrine Austin and Natalie Nguyen were arrested and charged with \"aiding and abetting\". They have reported of chemical irritants sprayed in the eyes and mouth, followed by lack of medical attention. When Cathrine and Natalie asked officer S. Henderson how he felt about Timothy Thomas, officer S. Henderson replied, \"I just don\'t give a fuck, an you can quote me on that! He sold dope to his own people, so i don\'t care if he dies.\" Natalie and Catherine feel officer S. Henderson, a black man, was trying to justify himself in front of the other officers, who were white.

Supporters are currently marching toward the \"Justice\" Center for a vigil. If you can contribute to the legal fund for the 9 people arrested, please send funds to:

People\'s Law Collective
c/o Molly
P.O. Box 3415
Cincinnati, OH 45201

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--- end of second-hand report ---

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Here are some links to arrest photos:

Sun Jun 3 19:22:55 2001 -- Cops Smush demonstrator
http://ohiovalleyimc.org/cgi-bin/imc.pl?where=display&article=493

shadow eyes :peaceyo [at] disinfo.net

image : arrest2.jpg
http://ohiovalleyimc.org/media/arrest2.jpg

-
These are the best of the color pics I took in Cincy. I will be hopefully getting the b&w\'s done soon - there are more of arrests there.

Also, special thanks to all IMCistas and medics - especially the one who thanked me with a kiss on the cheek =)

Because Ohio Vally IMC is really difficult to post multiple pics to, you can find most of my best pics at the twincities IMC site:

http://twincities.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1887&group=webcast - Pics of March

http://twincities.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1896&group=webcast - Pics of arrests


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--- end of arrest photos report (with links) ---

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There are many more Cincinnati March for Justice
photos, reports, audio, video, etc at
Ohio Valley Indymedia
http://ohiovalleyimc.org
San Francisco Indymedia
http://sf.indymedia.org/
Prisons and Police Brutality IMC
http://sf.indymedia.org/features/police/
Chicago Indymedia
http://chicago.indymedia.org/
and Global Indymedia
http://www.indymedia.org
10 pages (and growing) of great photos:
http://www.booksellersunion.org/cincinnati

Video, audio, text, photos, breaking news and more about the Cincinnati Ohio protests, April 7 2001 Timothy Thomas killing by police, rebellion, riots, killings of 4 blacks (one by asphyxiation - Roger Owensby) by Cincinnati police since November, investigations, politics, racial profiling, police brutality, police rampages, beanbag (METAL PELLETS - BUCKSHOT IN A BAG) and rubber/plastic bullet injuries and hospitalizations, etc.. 15 blacks killed by Cincinnati police since 1995 (16 when William Wilder is included). No whites. In Cincinnati there is NO local, independent, police review board with SUBPOENA power. The Cincinnati police are OUT-OF-CONTROL of civilian authority. A civilian President controls the military, but the Cincinnati police make their own laws?! A LOCAL POLICE STATE, where the white police union leader, Keith Fangman, regularly spouts off his rightwing, and sometimes racist (whether the dumbass knows it or not), opinions on a 50,000 watt, clear-channel, AM hate-radio, race-baiting, talk radio, call-in station (WLW 700 AM) that sometimes can be heard across 38 states. Corporate and progressive news URLs:
http://1230thebuzz.com/ --1230 AM. WDBZ. Cincinnati black talk radio. 1000 watts.
http://www.cincinow.com --TV 9. Video, audio, text, photos.
http://www.channelcincinnati.com --TV 5. Video, audio, text, photos.
http://www.cincynation.com --Various news sources compiled.
http://enquirer.com --Cincinnati Enquirer.
http://www.cincypost.com --Cincinnati Post.
http://www.cincinow.com/specials/city_in_distress/news/ --CinciNow unrest archives.
http://www.cincinow.com/specials/city_in_distress/news/video.shtml --Video archives.
http://www.real.com/player --RealPlayer 8 Basic is a free, streaming video, player.
http://www.citybeat.com/current/unrest.shtml --CityBeat unrest archives.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/Local/Cincinnati_Riots/ --Yahoo Full Coverage.
At the bottom of the AP and Reuters newswire pages is a dropdown menu to select news from previous days. Check for Cincinnati news:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ts/nm/?u --Reuters.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ts/ap/?u --Associated Press (AP).
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/index.html -- Off The Wire. Raw news.
http://ovimc.org --Ohio Valley Independent Media Center has many Cincinnati Unrest articles on the homepage and/or in the archives. To see more, click the \"display all articles\" link at the bottom right, and then keep clicking \"display next articles.\" Post your articles! Links (full URLS starting with http) found in posted articles are made clickable.