Thomas to blame for his death
Americans should be embarrassed by recent riots in Cincinnati

By James Zwilling
Skiff Staff

Race-related riots are as old as racial intolerance in the United States.

When Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken declared his city in a state of emergency and announced a citywide curfew last week in the wake of the worst riots in recent years, Americans should not have been surprised.

They should have been mad.

The riots, looting and violent demonstrations that took place following the shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer reflect so poorly on this nation that one wonders if this country will ever make any progress toward racial harmony.

More than 700 people have been arrested since Timothy Thomas’ death. Fires have been set, windows have been broken, rocks and bottles have been thrown, one police officer was shot and one woman was hospitalized after being hit by beanbag projectiles fired by Cincinnati police into a crowd of peaceful protesters at the young man’s funeral.

Americans should be embarrassed.

It seems that throughout history, violence has never solved any social dilemma, yet it remains to be the immediate reaction by those burdened by an incident like the shooting death of 19-year-old Thomas.

Thomas became the 15th black man since 1995 and the fifth black man since September to die while being pursued or in custody of the Cincinnati police.

Citizens of Cincinnati, especially those in the black community, have every right to be upset and worried about relations between their police department and their community members. What they don’t have the right to do is blame Officer Steven Roach.

Roach was attempting to arrest Thomas for failing to appear on misdemeanor charges and traffic violations when he chose to flee. In so doing, Thomas ended his life, not the officer who shot him.

Thomas — who had 14 outstanding misdemeanor warrants — fled down a dark alley, and when it appeared to Roach that he was pulling a weapon, was shot once in the chest.

Had Thomas been a responsible adult and thought about what his actions would lead to, his death would have been prevented. In a city where so many deaths have occurred at the hands of police, you would think he would have been doubly cautious not to upset the officer.

He should have been smarter.

The officer should have been surer.

Citizens of Cincinnati should be safer.

Too often people jump on the bandwagon of protests and a small group of people with reactionary beliefs are suddenly in control.

What could have been a positive, educated, important uprising of concern about the serious issue of police violence became an issue of black versus white the moment demonstrators began to protest violently.

Looting businesses, setting fires and shooting at police officers says only one thing about Americans: They’re weak.
The fact that such violence still occurs decades after the beginning of the civil rights movement is terrifying.

Americans should be scared.

Opinion Editor James Zwilling is a sophomore news-editorial journalism major from Phoenix.
He can be reached at (j.g.zwilling@student.tcu.edu).

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