Riot-torn Cincinnati under curfew

Cincinnati's mayor asks for patience after days of looting and violence. ANDREW BUNSCOMBE reports.

WASHINGTON - Night curfew has been imposed in Cincinnati with the mayor announcing a state of emergency after several days of rioting.

Mayor Charles Luken was yesterday also considering mobilising the National Guard to deal with the violence, which erupted after police shot dead an unarmed black teenager last weekend.

"I think the black citizens are tired and scared," said Luken. "I think the white citizens are tired and scared.

"There's gunfire going on here like you might hear in Beirut. It's dangerous and it's getting more dangerous.

"We don't like the fact that we are declaring a curfew. For 99.9 per cent of the citizens of our city, a curfew is completely unnecessary. We ask our citizens to bear with us.

"Despite the best efforts of the good citizens of our city, the violence on our streets is uncontrolled and it runs rampant ... The time has come to deal with this seriously. The message is that violence must stop."

Luken asked those people who were not able to go to Easter church services because of the restriction to "stay at home and pray for the city."

The curfew, from 8 pm to 6 am, does not affect most people travelling to or from work.

It came into force after another night of violence in the US city, in the state of Ohio, which culminated in a policeman being shot on Thursday night. His belt buckle deflected the bullet.

Cars and houses have been set ablaze during the riots, which have centred on the Over-the-Rhine district - a poor and predominantly black area.

Relations between the police and blacks have become increasingly tense over the past five years.

Since 1995, 15 black men have been killed by the police, including four in the past six months. The latest victim was Timothy Thomas, aged 19, who was shot last weekend by a white police officer, Steven Roach.

Thomas was killed as he fled from the officer, who was trying to arrest him for failing to appear in court for 14 minor charges and traffic violations.

The police union said Roach feared for his life during the encounter, when he chased Thomas and cornered him in an alleyway.

The FBI has been called in to investigate the shooting. But civil rights investigators will have to wait for reports on two other incidents before they can get involved.

One of those incidents took place last November when a suspect died of suffocation after struggling with police during an arrest. An FBI spokesman, Ed Boldt, said that state prosecutors had indicted two officers in that case.

A police video related to the latest shooting has been subpoenaed by Michael Allen, a county prosecutor. The case will go before a grand jury next week, when they will decide whether to prosecute Roach.

Allen said: "I've seen enough to warrant presenting this case to a grand jury for ultimate determination by the people of this community."

After the shooting of Thomas, gangs of black demonstrators took to the streets, breaking windows, looting stores and dragging several people from their cars. Police fought back with teargas.

Thomas' mother, Angela Leisure, urged people to shun violence, but she demanded to know the truth about her son's death.

Up until yesterday, 86 people had been arrested on charges such as disorderly conduct, criminal rioting, obstruction and assault.

Kwasi Thornell, an Episcopal clergyman at the city's Christ Church Cathedral, appealed for calm but said the real issue was how to control police aggression.

"They don't see that they are missing the boat," he said. "The young people on the street ... nobody is listening to them."

- INDEPENDENT