Another Black Man Dies At Hands of Cincinnati Police

Posted December 1, 2003 — Cincinnati Black
leaders, outraged over yet
another death of a Black man at the hands of
local police, are calling for
a citywide boycott and the firing of officers
involved in the most recent
incident.
Nathaniel Jones died Sunday after being
bludgeoned by officers with metal
nightsticks. The Mayor is backing the officers,
who say the force was
necessary to subdue the 400-pound, 41-year-old
Jones.:: AD ::
“We are outraged and appalled that a Black man,
arrested for disorderly
conduct, wound up dead,” said an angry Amanda
Mayes, co-chair of the
Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, an organization
founded in 2001 following
the death of Timothy Thomas, a Black man shot
dead by police.
Jones’s death marks the ninth “Black man murdered
by Cincinnati Police,”
in two years, Mayes told BET.com.
The most recent death occurred early Sunday
morning after an employee of
the White Castle restaurant called 911 to report
that a man - later
identified as Jones - had passed out on the grass
outside of the
restaurant. Emergency workers arrived shortly
thereafter, but then called
police, saying that Jones became a “nuisance”
after he was awakened. Jones
reportedly suffered from a sleeping disorder.
Two police officers immediately arrived on the
scene. The disturbing
moments that followed were recorded by video
camera mounted on the police
cruiser. The officers apparently tried to grab
the unarmed Jones, who
appeared to take a swing at the officers.
Officers Baron Osterman and James Pike wrestled
Jones to the ground. Then
they pulled their nightsticks and struck him
repeatedly. Jones appeared to
relent early, but the officers continued to swing
and jab him with their
clubs, hitting him across his arms, back and
head. As the encounter
continued six more officers showed up and joined
in the beating. Police
then handcuffed Jones and called for emergency
medical staff. He arrived
at University Hospital a few moments later, where
he was pronounced dead.
The officers at the scene - five White and one
Black - have been placed on
administrative leave.
In May of 2001 Attorney General John Ashcroft
authorized an investigation
into the “pattern and practices” of the
Cincinnati Police Department.
Tiana Rollinson, managing editor of the
Cincinnati Herald , a Black-owned
newspaper, attended Monday’s City Council
meeting. Aside from the press,
Rollinson said, only family and public officials
were issued the tickets
required to enter. In a police-lined hallway
leading to the council
chamber, a few protesters stirred.
“There was a moment of silence during the
meeting, but there wasn’t much
opposition or outrage there,” Rollinson said.
But, given past riots that sparked after the
“suspicious” death of other
Black men in police custody, Black community
leaders, police officials and
observers from all over America will be watching
what happens in
Cincinnati in coming days.