Riot policeman faces death charge

A white police officer whose shooting of an unarmed black man sparked three nights of devastating riots in Cincinnati, Ohio, has been charged with two offences, including negligent homicide.

Critics, including the victim’s mother, said the misdemeanour charges were too light, and a group of about 150 protesters marched peacefully outside police headquarters last night as officers on horseback and others in riot gear watched nearby. As night fell, a thunderstorm drenched the city and streets were quiet.

Earlier, downtown businesses boarded up windows and the police went to 12-hour shifts in case there was new violence.

Officer Stephen Roach was charged with negligent homicide and obstruction of official business exactly one month after 19-year-old Timothy Thomas was shot as he fled down an alley.

Roach, 27, has said he thought Thomas was reaching for a gun. If convicted of both charges, Roach would face no more than nine months in jail and could receive probation.

‘‘I know that emotions are running high over the tragic death of Timothy Thomas, but the case against Officer Roach cannot be decided based on emotion,’’ prosecutor Michael Allen said.

Thomas, wanted for 14 outstanding warrants, was the fifth black man killed in confrontations with Cincinnati police since November.

A grand jury - a panel authorised by a court to review evidence against Roach said yesterday it had chosen misdemeanour charges, which drew immediate criticism from Thomas’ mother, Angela Leisure.

‘‘I feel it was a slap on the wrist,’’ she said. ‘‘I don’t feel like justice was served. I feel it was not severe enough for the severity of what he did. He took a life. Negligence that doesn’t cut it for me.’’

The shooting prompted the city’s worst racial violence since the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis, Tennessee. Dozens were injured during last month’s unrest and more than 800 arrests were made before a city-wide curfew helped restore order.

Prosecutors announced the grand jury charges after most downtown workers had gone home.

The Rev Damon Lynch, one of the city’s most prominent black leaders, called for peace but criticised the grand jury’s decision.

‘‘I was expecting exactly what we got - or less,’’ Lynch said.

The Justice Department has formally opened a civil rights investigation of the Cincinnati police department. An agency official said authorities would look for patterns of illegal conduct, including the use of excessive force.

Fifteen blacks and no whites have died in confrontations with Cincinnati police since 1995, with authorities saying most pointed guns or shot at officers.

Two white officers are awaiting trial in connection with one of the deaths. The coroner said Roger Owensby Jr, 29, suffocated during his arrest on November 7.

Roach is accused of negligently causing Thomas’ death and with giving misleading statements to investigators. Allen refused to elaborate on how Roach was considered negligent.

Roach, a police officer since 1997, is on paid leave and has not commented publicly about the shooting.

The police union has said that Roach felt threatened by the suspect.

‘‘A number of witnesses indicated that Mr Thomas was wearing oversize pants, and that his hands were at his waist area holding his pants up as he ran,’’ Allen said.

‘‘The only information known to officers pursuing Mr Thomas was a physical description, that he was wanted on 14 arrest warrants and that he continued to avoid arrests during the pursuit.’’

Blacks have long complained they are harassed by Cincinnati police and their neighbourhoods are neglected economically.

The American Civil Liberties Union and black activists sued the city in March, accusing the police department of failing to end 30 years of police harassment of blacks, who make up 43% of the 331,000 residents.