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American Morning

Mayor Luken Mandates City-Wide Curfew for Cincinnati

Aired April 12, 2001 - 11:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: The violence in Cincinnati, Ohio is spreading. Unrest there was sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by police last weekend. In a news conference last hour, the city's mayor says he may call in reinforcements for all of this. CNN's Bob Franken has the latest now from Cincinnati -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Linda, in the building in back of me, police headquarters, police officials are meeting with Ohio National Guard officials, trying to decide whether and when the National Guard will have to be called in to try and spell the police department here, which is getting overwhelmed by the demands that are put on the skirmishes that have erupted since the shooting last Saturday.

Now, the mayor called a news conference after a third night of violence, in which one police officer was shot, was not seriously hurt. The streets were very dangerous; there was gun shots fired all night. You see police officers there who were firing from their shot guns, special bean-bag bullets (ph), which are designed to bruise, as oppose to harm people in a more serious way, although when the evening was over, they had pulled their weapon, their loaded weapons as they tried to find the man who had shot the police officer. Although they made several arrests, none of them apparently was the assailant.

Now, although the National Guard is being considered as a possibility to come into Cincinnati, the mayor called a news conference with what amounts to an interim action; he said that in spite of the fact that there are genuine issues to be debated about the race relations between the police department and the African- American community, the first thing he was going to do was to call an emergency order and set up a curfew that begins at 8:00 tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CHARLES LUKEN, CINCINNATI: There are two issues here; there is a very legitimate and real problem with race relations and how this city is going to heal itself in the large context. And we have had meetings over the last several days, particularly the last couple of days, on that issue.

There is a second issue. And today that is the issue we focus on. That is the issue of the violence on Cincinnati's streets. Today, I separate those issues. They are unrelated to me. The only issue that we are focused on today is getting the criminal element off our streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: And now there will be this evening the first test of that curfew and the control of the city when the police officers try to go out and clear the streets and find out whether the same people who have confronted them on those streets for the last several nights will now obey the orders to get off -- Linda.

STOUFFER: Bob Franken with the latest from Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you very much, Bob.

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