The march was an answer to an announcement by city officials that they had reached an agreement to address anger at police brutality and racial profiling. Three days earlier Blacks in Cincinnati had witnessed the spectacle of newly appointed City Manager Valerie Lemmie--now the city's highest-ranking Black administrator--bounding down the steps at city hall hand-in-hand with Police Chief Thomas Streicher in celebration at the deal, which purportedly involves a "revamp" of police procedures.

Mayor Charles Luken, who in 2001 had declared a curfew for large sections of the Black community as protests exploded against the brutal killing of Thomas, described the deal as a "historic moment for Cincinnati."

The turnout indicated otherwise. Many youth participated in the rally and march, including more than two dozen students from Northern Kentucky University, several of whom are members of Students Together Against Racism. "This action is very positive and necessary," said Tom Fontova, a leader of the anti-racism group. "We have to recognize the injustice of Thomas's killing. It was also important that veterans of the fight against racism like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth participated."

Cheers rang out as speakers demanded amnesty for hundreds of people arrested during the state of emergency declared by Luken in response to protests last year. The protesters also called for all police records of those rounded up to be expunged.

"We cannot turn our backs on those who took to the streets last April," said Damon Lynch III, one of the protest leaders, adding, "Police officers must go to jail when they commit crimes."

Nineteen-year-old Thomas was the 15th Black person killed by Cincinnati police since 1995. Officer Stephen Roach was acquitted last September on two misdemeanor charges for shooting the unarmed Thomas in the chest after he was chased by 12 cops to an abandoned building.

The cops claimed they pursued Thomas because he was wanted for failing to appear in court on 14 misdemeanor charges, 12 of them traffic violations, including one for not wearing a seat belt.

A month later a mistrial was declared in the case against Officer Robert Jorg, charged with involuntary manslaughter. Along with other Cincinnati cops, Jorg arrested and asphyxiated Roger Owensby Jr. on November 7. Thomas's mother and Owensby's father spoke at the rally and condemned the lack of justice in the cop killings.

Many actions, including one of 2,000 people, have demanded the prosecution of killer cops and an end to racist harassment and brutality, politely named "racial profiling" by government officials. The protests have called on the city to provide funds for jobs, education, and housing and other improvements in majority Black neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine where Thomas was killed.

Several Cincinnati groups have organized a boycott of entertainment facilities in the city until these demands are won. Stephen Scott, one of the boycott leaders, reminded the crowd that "the boycott continues," answering city officials who say that the highly publicized agreement--which is cast as a tentative settlement of a lawsuit against police racial profiling brought by the Black United Front and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio--settles the matter.

The settlement, which was approved by majority votes of the Cincinnati cops and the City Council, outlines ways to monitor cop activities and communication between the police department and city residents. The U.S. Department of Justice sat in on the negotiations.

The mood of the crowd indicated, however, that people are not taken in by the settlement. Many cheered Scott's statement that the boycott will continue, and chanted and waved placards saying, "No Justice, No Peace," during the rally and march.

Echoing the fighting spirit expressed by the crowd, Charlie Hansen, one of several students who came to the action from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, said, "The turnout is great. It's creating greater solidarity in the movement for justice in Cincinnati."  
 
 
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