I’ve lived in Cincinnati most of my life. Cincinnati has not always made me proud, but today it most certainly did.
There will be no riots in Cincinnati today. I used that phrase as the title of an earlier diary (now deleted). Some folks took offense to that , seeing it as a backhanded swipe at Shaun King. It wasn’t meant that way. It was more of a statement of pride about my hometown.
It was by no means certain we would see the results we saw today. Prosecutor Joe Deters has held that office for a long time. He’s often acerbic and sarcastic, he’s well known as a law and order type, very pro police. He’s been particularly proactive in pursuing the death penalty. He's not been seen as sympathetic to the concerns of the African American community. He’s also up for re-election next year.
Cincinnati has seen riots over police shootings not so very long ago (2001). There had been a long string of highly questionable deaths at the hands of police and the 2001 riots were simply the culmination of all that.
The end result of all that was a major effort to reform the way the Cincinnati Police Department operates. That effort has been largely successful. Things are very different today in Cincinnati than they were then.
Still as today’s events approached there was very real concern about more civil unrest. The University of Cincinnati shut down its entire campus at 11:00 am today and State Patrol cars were stationed at every entrance. There were rumors of business boarding up windows. I myself was nervous about what might transpire.
In the run-up today there multiple efforts by many people to ward off more violence. Those included the Cincinnati police chief, the City Manager, the Mayor members of City Council both Republican and Democrat, clergy. Cincinnati came together and decided we didn’t want to go down that road again. And as in Charleston, the family of the victim responded with grace, calling on people to refrain from violence and offering forgiveness.
The nationally televised press conference featuring the Mayor today after the announcement also featured a gathering of folks who rarely agree with each other. It was a show of unity.
And most importantly justice was served. The prosecutor did the right thing. It seems clear the body camera made a real difference.
Progress sometimes comes in fits and starts. It’s a shame that Samuel Dubose had to die as he did for progress to come about.