CINCINNATI — Last week, an unnamed Cincinnati police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Ryan Hinton. The next day, Ryan's father, Rodney Hinton Jr., allegedly crashed a car into former deputy Larry Henderson, killing him.
Investigators say Hinton watched the body camera footage of Ryan's death just hours before the crash. In the video, just six seconds pass between when four people jumped from a suspected stolen car, running from police, and when an officer shot and killed Ryan.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich stated Hinton was "so upset, he left the building" during the family's meeting with the police chief. He later returned to the station to get his car, and within an hour, Pillich said he drove to Clifton, traveled across two lanes of oncoming traffic and crashed directly into Henderson.
The two cases have created divisive conversations in our community, and some feel the police shooting of 18-year-old Hinton has been overshadowed as questions still linger about the officer's use of force.
“I just think that both sides lose," said Life Allah, a barber in Roselawn. “Not only was a deputy killed, but there was a child killed here, too.”
WCPO went to listen to community members' concerns about the use of force on the 18-year-old. The conversation ran long and deep, with residents expressing concern about the use of force as officers pursued Ryan, who they said pointed a gun.
"My stepmother is a sheriff deputy today; my second dad is a deputy; it's a lot of good Black and white cops," barber Milahn Davis said.
Davis told WCPO he understands the pressures law enforcement officials are under, but in this instance, there are still unanswered questions about CPD's use of deadly force.
Watch the real-time reaction of community members to the body camera video shared by CPD:
Questions still loom about the officers' de-escalation tactics and the brief, blurry body camera footage that was released to the public. WCPO has requested all police footage from the incident.
“Black boys and Black men being killed by the police, and it’s sad because that’s going to get swept under the rug because of what the father did next," Davis said.
What community members are saying as they question the justice system and its impact on Black Americans who encounter police officers:
“If the kid pulled the gun out on him and shot at him and stuff like that, you got to do what you got to do,” Allah said. “We looked at the video and we see (differently) than what they are saying. I (saw) that kid running, and then on top of that, why are all their body cameras off and his is the only one there — and it’s a blurred shot?”
Davis recounted to WCPO's Jay Shakur what it means in these moments to have "the talk" with his children. "The talk" is a colloquialism in the Black community describing the time when parents share realities about being a Black person in the United States. Culturally, variations of "the talk" have occurred in Black families, and oftentimes it's when parents instruct their kids how to conduct themselves when they encounter law enforcement officials.
Davis discusses what "the talk" looked like for his family:
Both Davis and Allah say their concern is based in a deep mistrust of police conduct and the justice system.
On “The Lincoln Ware Show,” attorney Fanon Rucker with the Cochran Law Firm, the firm representing Ryan's family, said he believes tensions can be calmed by the ongoing independent investigation into the shooting.
“It ain’t about hostility or anger or hatred,” Rucker said. “It’s about making sure the constitutional rights are protected and the policies are followed, and if they’re not, for there to be justice.”
There are several investigations of the shooting underway. CPD, the Cincinnati Citizen Complaint Authority and the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office are all reviewing what happened. The family's attorneys are also investigating the shooting independently.
