The mobilizations in the city have been met by the city government with rubber bullets, police mobilizations, a curfew, and mass arrests. But this show of force has failed to stop the demonstrations, meetings, and large turnouts at City Council meetings.

These actions have exposed on the national arena the extent of police violence and discrimination against African-Americans in the city. Cop violence goes hand in hand with discrimination in hiring and housing, lack of public resources for community infrastructure and schools, and broader assaults on democratic rights. These policies aid the employers, who benefit from the second-class status of African Americans and the violence meted out to them in many forms.

City and police officials, the head of the Fraternal Order of the Police, and the big-business media have turned reality on its head by labeling as "violent" those who have had the courage to protest this brutality. Rather than rein in the cops, the city government has emboldened them by declaring a state of emergency. Rather than getting the cops out of the Black community, the city has put them on 12-hour shifts with shotguns and other weapons. And rather than putting the killer cops in jail, the city has arrested more than 800 people swept up in police dragnets for "curfew violations." Residents have hammered away at this double standard by pointedly asking the mayor and other city officials where they were over the past years as police violence targeted their families and friends, and why the recent unprovoked cop attacks on protesters do not elicit a proportionate response from the city government.

The outpouring of thousands at Thomas's funeral and other protests are testimony to the determination of Cincinnati's Black community and other working people to bring an end to the cop killings and discrimination that Blacks face. Their actions are resonating around the country. This is because police brutality and racist discrimination are a fact of life throughout the United States and are inherent to the system of capitalism, where oppression and exploitation of the vast majority for the profit of a wealthy few are embedded in every aspect of society.

The statement by the president of the Fraternal Order of the Police calling the demonstrators "terrorists" accurately shows how the ruling rich and those in their governing institutions view workers and farmers who stand up and resist--not only in the United States but around the world. Their repressive measures will more and more mark the government's response to the resistance of working people around the globe.

Solidarity with the protests in Cincinnati can help strengthen the struggles of unionists, fighters for women's rights, and farmers defending their land. Jail and prosecute cop Stephen Roach! Stop the police killings!
 
 
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Cincinatti protesters say: 'Try the cops for murder'
Cuban youth leaders visit Cincinnati
 
 
 
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