On December 2nd, Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said the U.S. Justice Department should investigate the possible civil rights violation of a Cincinnati black man who died soon after being beaten by city police.
"The sight of police officers repeatedly beating Nathaniel Jones with metal night sticks is sickening and appears well outside of the norm for subduing an unarmed suspect," said Mfume. "Attorney General John Ashcroft should direct the Justice Department to not only investigate the possible violation of civil rights laws, but to also consider whether federal funds should be cutoff from the Cincinnati Police Department until the police are trained to handle this kind of situation without using excessive force."
Mfume said: "The police department would do well to emulate the practices by other departments by establishing and developing relationships with communities before those type of incidents occur."
Police videotape showed police officers jabbing Nathaniel Jones at least a dozen times after he had fallen on the ground and refused an order to place his hands behind his back. Jones died at a hospital shortly after he was taken into custody. A final autopsy report has not been issued.
This latest violent Cincinnati police episode began early Sunday morning when paramedics were called to a fast food restaurant parking lot where a man was unconscious on the parking lot. When the man reportedly became unruly, the police were called.
"No one wants to second guess the police, but it's hard not to be sickened at the sight of the police beating this unarmed man," said Mfume. "Why didn't they use a stun gun or other nonviolent means to subdue him? No one is suggesting that Jones is innocent, but neither are the arresting officers in this instance."
Jones' death follows a pattern of alleged police brutality in Cincinnati. There were riots in 2001 after the police shooting death of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, who was wanted on misdemeanor charges, was shot after he fled police into a dark alley.
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