Cincinnati Riots of 2001 - The Beginning

The Beginning

On April 9, 2001, the first Monday after Thomas was shot and killed, between 150 and 200 black Cincinnati residents, including Thomas' mother, Angela Leisure, entered the City Council chambers, where the City Council was holding a law and public safety committee meeting. The group interrupted the council meeting demanding details of the incident and immediate accountability for the death of an unarmed youth. They were disruptive as some in the loosely-organized group insulted and shouted down councilmembers as they attempted to proceed with the daily procedures before council. The explanation that the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) had not gathered the details and were not ready to make an official report on the incident was unsatisfactory to the crowd which responded with continuous disruptions. In the crowd, there were signs with sentiments such as "Stop Killing Us or Else" and "Wear Seat Belt or Be Executed" (an allusion to some of the charges Thomas was being chased for). At one point, the Reverend Damon Lynch, a local pastor, said over a microphone, "Nobody leaves these chambers until we get the answer. Members of the Black United Front are standing at the doors, because nobody leaves until we get an answer." When the crowd left the interior of the building, some people vandalized the interior and exterior of City Hall.

A law committee meeting was held to discuss the shooting incident. Thousands of protesters marched to CPD District 1 headquarters, whose jurisdiction includes the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood where Thomas was shot and most of the rioting took place. At the headquarters, protesters locked arms and shouted at the police demanding the release of the information and immediate accountability. To further demonstrate their frustration, protesters lowered the U.S. flag which was flying outside police headquarters and raised it upside down.

At approximately midnight, after warning the crowd several times to disperse, police turned off the street lights and began firing on the protesters with bean bags and tear gas. A smaller protest the next day at the corner of Vine and 13th Streets also was dispersed with bean-bag projectiles, tear gas, and pepper spray. The next day the disturbance increased to the point where most consider the riot to have begun.

The riots began in earnest at nightfall. A group which was peacefully protesting in police presence near City Hall was dispersed and elements reformed on the residential outskirts of downtown. They moved into the business area of downtown Cincinnati and rioted

There was violence against unarmed citizens who were in the area by the rioters. Businesses were looted, storefronts damaged, and small fires were set. The reaction from the police was to guide the nucleus of the crowd by forming human walls to prevent the crowd from spreading while not fully encircling it, allowing it to progress in the opening allowed. There were several injuries reported; none were serious and some gunshots were reported.

The news of the rioting spread quickly. Simultaneous riots broke out throughout Cincinnati suburbs of negligible damage. The streets were deserted in the early morning hours, and businesses that were not damaged returned to as normal operations as possible.

Throughout the next day, downtown suffered a considerable loss of productivity, worker attendance, and commerce. Many companies made sure their employees left the facilities before later hours to ensure they were safe from a possible resurgence of violence. During the work day, a small contingency of protesters gathered between the residential and business boundaries of downtown, shouting and disrupting traffic in a very confined area of approximately 2 blocks on one street but remained peaceful. There was a high concentration of police in that bordered area with pairs of police stationed throughout downtown on various street corners. Despite the police presence, when darkness hit, violence on the streets returned.

The violence on the second day was widespread. More incidents outside of the downtown area were reported. Even though there was the presence of some black community leaders, church congregation leaders, nonbusiness organization leaders, etc. before nightfall, they were unable to keep the crowd from becoming violent. Again the riots ended in the early morning hours and the next day undamaged and some damaged businesses reopened but with considerably less commerce and attendance.