Rodney King 2??
 

Monday, December 1, 2003 Posted: 5:47 PM EST (2247 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/1...in.custody.ap/

A videotape shows police officers struggling with Nathaniel Jones.


CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- A 350-pound black man died after being struck repeatedly by police wielding metal nightsticks, and the mayor said Monday a videotape showed that the officers were defending themselves.

The cause of death was under investigation.

Black activists say the death Sunday of Nathaniel Jones, 41, was another example of brutality involving Cincinnati police.

The fatal shooting of an unarmed 19-year-old black man by a white police officer in April 2001 prompted four days of rioting in the city.

The disturbances resulted in dozens of injuries, more than 800 arrests and widespread property damage.

"How many of our people have to die before the city decides to do something about it?" said Nathaniel Livingston Jr. of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati.

The Rev. Daymond Lynch, a leader of the Black United Front, said he was reserving judgment until more was known about the case.

But, Lynch said, "if police officers act improperly, we expect them to be held accountable."

The officers who were at the scene -- five whites and one black -- were placed on administrative leave, which is policy while investigators examine any police encounter that results in a death.

The confrontation was videotaped by a camera on a police cruiser. After seeing the video, Mayor Charlie Luken rejected activists' demand that he force police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. to resign.

"What I saw was a ... man violently attacking a police officer in a manner that put the lives of police officers at risk," Luken said.

"While the investigations will continue, there is nothing on those tapes to suggest that the police did anything wrong."

Luken said he agreed with the initial police assessment that the officers who struggled with Jones defended themselves as they were trained to do when attacked.

An employee at a White Castle fast-food restaurant called 911 early Sunday to report that a man had passed out on the grass outside. Emergency personnel arrived and reported that the man was awake and "becoming a nuisance," according to police radio transmissions.

The first two officers to arrive, Baron Osterman and James Pike, were shown on the video striking Jones after he was warned to stay back.

Jones then lunged at one of the two white officers and knocked him down. As they struggled to handcuff him, the officers kept yelling, "Put your hands behind your back."

They called for an ambulance when Jones appeared to be in distress. He died within minutes of arriving at University Hospital, Assistant Chief Richard Janke said. The reason for Jones' behavior was not known, Janke said.


The cause of Jones' death was under investigation.
The treatment of the officers involved in the incident by department leaders upset Roger Webster, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Cincinnati.

"The officers were treated as criminals," he told a reporter. "They were read their rights. In that video, what did these officers do wrong?"

Black activist groups staged an economic boycott of Cincinnati after the 2001 shooting of Timothy Thomas, who was wanted on prior charges of fleeing police when he ran from officers.

Officer Stephen Roach shot him in a dark alley and was later cleared at trial of criminal charges.

Civil rights leaders blamed what they called years of abuse by the police department for the anger in the black community. Thomas was the 15th black suspect killed by police since 1995.

A federal investigation of that shooting, requested by the city, resulted in Cincinnati's April 2002 agreement to tighten use of force policies and to improve handling of citizen complaints against the police.

The agreement, signed by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, specifies when and how police officers should use force, when and how they can engage in foot pursuits, and how they deal with those who are mentally ill.

Last February, a white officer chased and fatally shot a black man who was spotted running from a store that had been broken into, police said.

The police, Hamilton County prosecutor and the Citizen Complaint Authority review panel concluded that the shooting was justified because the suspect was beating the officer with his nightstick.
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What do you all think?? Has anyone seen the video?? This is going to get real ugly real fast :( :mad:

Whoa!

I haven't seen the videotape, and honestly, I don't know that I would want to. Things like that get me upset. *SMH*

Its pretty graphic. Its all over the news..so if you watch tonight..you're bound to see it..

Although the guy was on PCP...he shouldn't have died. if I'm an officer...and its between my life and the guy I'm trying to detain...i gotta choose me.

This is my hometown so this situation has been personal to me for a long time. This sort of thing has been going on for years and it's past time for federal intervention into this department. A friend's cousin is head of the Sentinals (Cincy's black officers union); trust me there are issues w/ that department.

That said, this dude this week caused some of this himself. Toxicology reports said cocaine and PCP were in his system; that plays a part that's his fault. But why does it take six, fully weaponed, attired officers to put down an out-of-shape, apparently sickly dude? Shouldn't their hand-to-hand training allow them to shut him down before having him die. I mean, if he pulls a gun and you have to shoot him, ok. But a beatdown by 6? I had the same feeling watching the Rodney King tape. Why it take 20 to beat somebody down?

And none of this excuses the shooting an unarmed man (Tim Thomas/ April 2001) in the back as he was fleeing arrest from a bench warrant for failing to appear for traffic violations. That is what touched off the 2001 Riots. People, even those messing up their own lives with anti-social behavior, will only take so much isht before they respond.

I pray that your hometown makes it through this situation riot-less. The situation in 2001 was definitely wrong..but I think it was a little different.

Its just hard for me to defend this brother because he's high on Coke and PCP. 350 pounds with an enlarged heart and yelling "White Boy" "Redneck" and "My mamma taught me this." The police officers were yelling, "Get Back" " Get down" etc.. I am definitely NOT saying the guy should have died....but how do you defend him when he's lunging at and hitting the cops?? I mean we all have to be accountable for our actions don't we??

I guess I"m kinda split on this issue. It didn't look to me like the cops were trying to just brutalize this guy for no reason. The cops know they have a camera in the police cruiser...and this guy wasn't hit in the head one time..But he definitely should NOT have died :( Its just so sad..

Either way...this incident just isn't going to be good for race relations in Ohio...or anywhere for that matter...

I agree with you LoveSpell, maybe they could've used a stungun or something, I don't know. I still don't want to see the video tho. *smh*

I saw the tape, and I am torn also.

The man attacked the cops first. He was HUGE. They had to subdue him.

But the beating that followed was just....savage. The force they used seems so excessive. Once the man is on the ground, don't you stop beating him?

He died because of that beating. I understand that he started the confrontation, but the police were wrong.

I can't understand how SIX (although that's a very good number ;)) cops could not detain him. Had the guy just stayed down...I would say flat out that the cops were wrong...but he kept getting up...and he kept getting up!

It's funny because you know the cops knew this was going to be ugly because when the camera in their police cruiser cut off....they turned it back on...I guess they knew how people would perceive this incident...

The fact that this guy died just seems to overshadow whether the cops were just doing their job...or were acting excessive...

...no I'm not defending the deceased at all; he could/should have complied better (I saw the tape), nor am I attacking the PD in this incident. I'm just saying this particular police department with its history really hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt, IMO, in these types of situations.

The "investigation" will tell all, I hope. :mad:

That's a good point. They have very little credibility when it comes to police brutality. That department is notorious.

I saw the tape, and I personally think they took it to another level! I mean dang, they didn't have to beat that man that badly. Now he was wrong for attacking them, and he was a big dude, but the way they attacked him was terrible.

I agree. I didn't see the part of the tape where he attacked the officers first, only the part where he is on the ground with his hands up in a motion trying to protect himself from the blows. My question is....don't police carry pepper spray?!?! Why didn't they just spray him and then aprehend him? That would have made more sense than to beat the poor man to death.

A 350lb man high on Cocaine and PCP is not going to be subdued with pepper spray. In fact, in fight they appear to gain strength and lash out indiscriminately. When that much weight and strength is being thrown around it takes much more force to subdue them.

Believe me, I am not trying to defend the po po, especially there in Cinti, but very honestly if I was in their shoes I would call for all the back upI could get to restain a person that size. Plus, do we don't know yet if he would have died if he had not had an enlarged heart?

I guess I believe if that had been a 350lb redneck high on Coke and PCP and behaving the same way, the same amount of force would have been used. So what concerns me most is that we, Black folx, are using the race card more and more, i.e., the police brutality occured because the suspect/victim was Black. Not that it isn't warranted in many cases, but when we use it in lieu of the fact that the behavior by a suspect/victim is inappropriate in the first place, we lessen the credibility of the real cases of racism.

My Soror..My Soror...did you or did you not hit the nail on the head?!?!? I was SO offended when a black woman (I'm not sure if she's the head of an organization or a member of the man's family) said the we must end the "LYNCHING" of black men in America!! :confused: How on earth could she compare a black man being LYNCHED to this brother who's high, beliggerent, and making racist comments?? It is so true that the race card seems to be played whenever there are black and white people involved..and we don't get our way. It's almost expected everytime something like this happens....

And I sincerely believe that a 350 pound white guy would have been handled the same way. Just as not all white/black people are racist or evil ...not all police (whether in Ohio or NYC) are bad.

I'm anxious to see what the coroner's report will say.

No Spin ZOne??
 

I thought the same thing before I saw the whole video...its amazing what SPIN the media can put on things. They aren't playing the man's comments to the officers...or the several times where he kept getting up...

And we don't know yet that he was beat to death..the coroner's results have not been released yet