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By David CS Whitehead, President, Cincinnati NAACP

The Cincinnati NAACP is undeniably disheartened by the culminating report of Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich, which upholds that the killing of Ryan Hinton by a Cincinnati police officer was justified and lawful. A decision of this magnitude being made without the legal process of additional review afforded to all through a grand jury for an open and transparent review of the evidence is act of injustice. 

From the onset of the shooting, we joined our voices along with many others who called for an independent investigation into the incident. We even suggested the option of using BCI for the investigation and that was ignored. Seeking answers that would serve as the basis for allowing the entirety of our city to gain absolute understanding of the outcome of the dreaded encounter between Ryan Hinton and officers that concluded in his death on that fateful day. This finding does not rise to the occasion of satisfying that need. 

The Cincinnati Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People find the report lacking one key element, which we believe our community was looking for, which is video evidence that supports the officers claim that Ryan Hinton pointed his weapon at Officer A. We understand that our police officers must make split second decisions when facing individuals with weapons, however we are really trying to verify the officer’s statement regarding this fact. Even if we accept that Ryan Hinton committed a crime of car theft, which is a serious crime that needs to be addressed and punished, fleeing the scene of a crime should not require a death sentence. We did not see video evidence that corroborates the officers claim that the weapon was pointed at him, which is the basis of his stance that he needed to fire first before the suspect fired at him.

Due to this discrepancy, we believe that justice did not prevail today.

However, we ask that the community remain diligent and continue to allow for the pursuit of faithful justice through legal channels that are yet available to be obtained. Whether that may ultimately be availed, as disclosed by the family’s attorney, Fanon Rucker, by potential legal remedy provided through a civil lawsuit. Also, the Citizen Complaint Authority investigation into the shooting is still underway; and lastly, as indicated by our city’s Mayor Aftab Pureval, “Both internally at CPD and through the Citizen Complaint Authority, we will still be continuing our parallel independent investigations, in order to honor the goals of the Collaborative Agreement, which provides component we can believe in.” 

We are sympathetic of the condition this has put the family, officers, and our entire community. The healing process of this family and our entire family of Cincinnatians has been delayed.