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Cincinnati lifts curfew
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CINCINNATI officials lifted a curfew on Monday as violence sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer ebbed, and police said that six officers and two state troopers were under investigation for an incident that injured four.
Two adults and two young girls were shot with nonlethal, bean-bag projectiles as police attempted to disperse a crowd of peaceful demonstrators after the funeral on Saturday of the slain man.
The FBI and the Cincinnati police internal affairs unit were pursuing separate investigations into the allegations involving the eight officers. Cecil Thomas, director of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission and former president of the Cincinnati black police officers' association, said he witnessed the incident. ``There was no reason whatsoever -- no provocation,'' Thomas told WCPO-TV. He and other witnesses said the officers drove up, jumped out of four vehicles and started firing bean-bag shotguns without warning. They quickly drove away, witnesses said.
In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush remained ``very concerned'' about Cincinnati's problems. He said the Justice Department had sent two mediators to the city and two more experts from the department's civil rights division arrived during the weekend. In addition, Attorney General John Ashcroft was reviewing matters.
There had been mounting pressure on the city from businesses to lift the curfew, which began last Thursday evening and ran from 8pm until 6am, except for Easter Sunday, when it was shortened to start at 11pm. Meanwhile, the City Council was slated yesterday to hold its first meeting since the rioting began last Monday night to deal with issues raised by protesters.
At a news conference where he announced the lifting of the curfew, Mayor Charles Luken said he was troubled by the allegations of the unwarranted police attack on Saturday. While paying tribute to the police through the past week of racial turbulence, Luken said, ``We need solutions that will create a more effective police force and bring greater respect for our officers.''
Police said they had made 837 arrests during the four days that the curfew was in effect. Blacks make up about 43 per cent of the population in the city of 300,000.
Luken, a Democrat running for re-election, said he was forming a race relations commission of business, religious, education and minority leaders to address the broad issues of racism and economic inclusion. The commission would have full responsibility for implementing its plan of action, he said.
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