Ain’t Got No Justice in Cincinnati
On July 18th, the struggle for justice in the name of Sam DuBose seemingly came to an end when Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced that his office would not try Ray Tensing a third time on murder charges in Mr. DuBose’s death. The news came one day before the two year anniversary of the infamous traffic stop where former University of Cincinnati police officer, Ray Tensing, put a bullet in the back of Sam DuBose’s head within ninety seconds of stopping him on bogus pretenses.
The mood in front of the prosecutor’s office on the corner of 9th and Sycamore in downtown Cincinnati was grim when Mr. Deters held his press conference. It was a scorching hot day, and it felt like the air had been smashed from a balloon as we all deflated in sorrow. Nearly two years of raising awareness, rallying, protesting, and marching had gotten us nowhere in the fight for justice.
Personally, I felt defeated, but I was heartened when the Countdown to Conviction of Ray Tensing Coalition decided to hold a rally at Fountain Square on Saturday afternoon. In between Tuesday and Saturday, a Facebook page called “Support Ray Tensing” sprang up. Going with a hashtag #TensingProud, they claimed that they wanted to “pray for peace” and “change America.” The page claimed that they were the silent majority and that they would meet at the Purple People Bridge on the Ohio side of the Ohio River Monday at 6pm to hold a prayer vigil and rally in support. We supporters of justice had no time to rest in the name of Sam DuBose.
Saturday’s action went from Fountain Square to The Banks, next to Great American Ball Park, where the Reds were hosting someone (the Reds lost). Over a hundred people rallied and reminded the public that Ray Tensing was guilty and that without justice, there was no peace. It was oppressively hot and humid, but we maintained a positive energy for the two hours of protest.
Judge Ghiz dropped the charges for Ray Tensing today, and this evening we went to the Purple People Bridge to counter-protest the Tensing supporters. They were running a little scared on their Facebook page and were trying to make it seem like Black Lives Matter: Cincinnati intended to do violence against them. They were supposed to gather at 6pm. We were there at 5:30pm. At about 6:15 after claiming they had cancelled the event on Facebook, they conducted a brief prayer vigil, which the counter-protesters disrupted by singing “Hey, hey hey…good-bye.” Afterward, they did take the bridge across the Ohio River into KY and returned, while counter-protesters chanted, “Who says Tensing Proud? A racist crowd, a racist crowd!” and “If Sam Don’t Get It, Shut. It. Down.” while following the pro-Tensing people across and back.
Why does all this matter? Hamilton County has never found a law enforcement officer guilty in the death of a civilian. Not once. Justice looks like accountability, and if police officers aren’t held to the same standard of laws as civilians, there’s a grave public erosion of trust in the American justice system.
We can hope that the Department of Justice picks up this case and tries Ray Tensing in Federal Court, but with Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, we can’t hold our breath. Meanwhile, we must continue to speak out against police brutality. If we don’t, we are complicit in a broken system that values the state over citizens. Article written by: Lessa Leigh Photos: Mathieu Hubin
