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Cincinnati Quiet, For Now
CINCINNATI, Ohio, April 13 (News Agencies) - City officials expressed relief Friday that a curfew and state of emergency had managed to put the lid on three days of racially charged violence in this southern Ohio town, but warned the stiffest test was yet to come.
"Last night went well beyond our expectations. We had a tremendous amount of voluntary compliance of the citizens which we are very happy about," Cincinnati police chief Thomas Streicher told a press conference.
Police arrested 153 people for curfew violations and reported sporadic violent incidents and gunfire between the hours of 8:00 pm Thursday and 6:00 am Friday (0100-1100 GMT).
But there were none of the ugly scenes that marked the early part of this week when demonstrators went on the rampage, looting stores, torching dustcarts and hurling bricks at white motorists in the wake of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer.
Streicher downplayed the success of the security measures, suggesting that cooler heads had prevailed, and people had realized it was "time for things to settle down and cool off."
"The citizens of Cincinnati have elected to maintain control here," he told reporters.
But he acknowledged the real test of calm and civil obedience would come Saturday when 19-year-old Timothy Thomas is due to be buried.
"Saturday, we believe is a crucial day for us," he said.
Intelligence reports suggest there will be huge crowds for the public funeral services for Thomas, which will be held around 1630 GMT.
But in the meantime, the lockdown will continue, with officials evaluating it on a daily basis, Streicher said.
Up to 500 police officers patrolled the streets of Cincinnati overnight on foot and on horseback, with authorities maintaining a strong presence in the downtown area and the heavily black Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, which witnessed some of the worst unrest.
But some residents were critical of authorities for acting too slowly to control the situation.
"The curfew seems to be working pretty well, but I think they should have called the National Guard in and ended this a lot earlier," said Chris Miceli, 26, a hotel receptionist.
Mayor Charlie Luken declared a state of emergency and announced the curfew Thursday after three days of clashes between scores of rioters and police firing rubber-coated steel bullets, bean bag ammunition and tear gas.
Dozens of stores in the downtown district were vandalized, more than 70 people injured, and 350 arrested, authorities said.
The city has drafted in more than 100 extra officers from the Hamilton County Sheriff's office and the Ohio State Patrol to bolster the city's flagging police force, stretched by almost a week of working 12-hour shifts.
The officers are providing extra security at City Hall, city fire stations and for work crews engaged in clear-up operations.
Streicher said the force's morale is "extremely high," right now, but the force is coming under intense scrutiny from the media and the African-American community over charges that the killing of Thomas is just the latest in a string of controversial killings of black men in what critics say is a clear case of racial profiling.
Thomas was the fifteenth black man to die at the hands of this rust-belt city's predominantly white force since 1995, and the fourth since November last year.
Kweisi Mfume, leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a renowned black advocacy group, urged people to vent their anger over Thomas' death in non-violent ways, and avoid any other young black person being "killed like this in the streets as if they were animals or dogs with no way to fight back."
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