Cincinnati riots of 2001
The 2001 Cincinnati riots were a series of civil disorders which took place in and around the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio from April 9 to 13, 2001. They began with a peaceful protest in the heart of the city on Fountain Square over the inadequate police response to the police shooting of unarmed African American 19-year-old Timothy Thomas. The peaceful protest soon turned into a march that went in the direction of the victim's home neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine.
| 2001 Cincinnati riots | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | April 9–13, 2001 | ||
| Location | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Caused by | Shooting of Timothy Thomas | ||
| Methods | Protests and acts of civil unrest, vandalism and looting in Over-the-Rhine, downtown, Walnut Hills, Bond Hill, and Avondale. | ||
| Resulted in | an estimated $3.6 million in damage; an estimated loss of $10 million due to the subsequent boycott; reform of police procedures concerning racial profiling | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Casualties | |||
| Injuries | dozens | ||
| Arrested | 158 in civil disobedience, 800 for curfew violations. | ||
The period of unrest was sparked after 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, an unarmed African American man, was shot and killed by Cincinnati Police Department Patrolman Stephen Roach during an attempt to arrest him for non-violent misdemeanors, most of which were traffic citations. Tensions were already high in the city following a series of other incidents involving police brutality and racial profiling, including thirteen deaths. Protests erupted into four nights of unrest, with instances of recorded property destruction in Cincinnati, objects thrown at police officers by demonstrators, and vandalism and looting of businesses before a city-imposed curfew eventually ended the unrest.
It was ultimately determined that the period of unrest caused $3.6 million in damage to businesses and another $1.5 to $2 million to the city. A subsequent community boycott of downtown businesses had an estimated adverse impact of $10 million on the area. Incidents of violent crime rose in the downtown area for several years thereafter. The city worked with the community and police to improve training and policies to prevent incidents like that in which Thomas was killed.