Posted on 12/08/2003 6:12:50 AM PST by yankeedame
Nathaniel Jones' funeral: Bessie Jones (center), grandmother of Nathaniel Jones and Tyriq Holley (right), a son of Nathaniel Jones, participate in a memorial service honoring Nathaniel Jones, who died after a struggle with Cincinnati police. The memorial service took place at Allen Temple, located on Reading Road in Cincinnati.
Minister Muhammad Abdul Ali makes a sign outside the Allen Temple Worship Center in Cincinnati Saturday, during visitation for Nathaniel Jones, who died in police custody Sunday.
Kemuel Yisrael holds a sign outside the Allen Temple Worship Center in Cincinnati Saturday, where people are lined up for the visitation for Nathaniel Jones, who died in police custody Sunday.
Photos: Ron Alvey/DDN
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Jones mourned in Cincinnati
Hundreds honor man who died in custody
By Kristin McAllister
kmcallister@DaytonDailyNews.com
CINCINNATI | Family, friends and representatives of black activist groups gathered Saturday for a memorial service honoring Nathaniel Jones, a 41-year-old Avondale man who died after a struggle with Cincinnati police.
While events since Jones' death last Sunday have focused on the scuffle with police in the parking lot of a White Castle restaurant, attention Saturday dwelt on the man who friends and loved ones knew.
Beginning at noon and continuing through a 3 p.m. memorial service, about 500 mourners filled the Allen Temple AME Worship Center on Reading Road.
Between upbeat gospel songs from the World Outreach Christian Church Choir, representatives of Cleveland's Shiloh Baptist Church and several of Jones' friends and relatives from Cincinnati and Cleveland read aloud letters, poems and acknowledgements of "Skip" or "Skipper," as they knew him.
Several members of the Cincinnati City Council stopped in during the service, and Forest Park Mayor Stephanie Summerow Dumas spoke.
"You are not alone in your pain," Muhammad James Robinson of the Nation of Islam told the congregation. He said he spoke with Minister Louis Farrakhan, who "sent his deepest condolences" to the Jones family.
The Hamilton County coroner ruled Jones’ death a homicide, but cautioned that the ruling did not imply that police used excessive force. The direct cause of death was the struggle, the autopsy showed, but Jones suffered from an enlarged heart, obesity and had intoxicating levels of cocaine, PCP and methanol in his blood, according to official reports.
His death has focused attention on racial division in Cincinnati, torn by riots in April 2001 after a white police officer shot an unarmed black man who fled arrest.
Jones’ family, particularly his grandmother Bessie Jones, has urged the black community not to turn to violence.
The Rev. Calvin Harper, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater Cincinnati and Vicinity, said the ministers group would not march as planned on city hall today to protest Jones' death.
But about 24 members of the New Black Panther Party also attended the service and said they were planning a 2 p.m. event today in front of Cincinnati police headquarters to "send a message," said party Chairman Malik Shabazz, a Washington attorney.
"We're here conducting a fact-finding investigation," said Shabazz, who added that he did not want to "tip" his hand about the group's message to police.
"At a minimum, his death was a homicide by excessive force. It fits a pattern of police misconduct in Cincinnati," Shabazz said. "The people here have a right to be upset."
At the memorial service, John Felder, who grew up next door to Jones, described "Skip" as a young man who enjoyed playing with his Hot Wheels as a little boy and loved playing baseball, football and skating.
Felder said that, following the unrest in Cincinnati, he no longer admits to having lived there.
"Skip will be fine," Felder said. "The more compelling question is, 'Are we going to be fine?’ ’’
He closed by reading a quote by former President John F. Kennedy: "The unity of freedom has never relied on the uniformity of opinion."
Pastor Gregory O. Chandler read aloud a poem written by Reginald L. Bennett, Jones' cousin in Cleveland. "It's easier to deal when something is lost, not taken," Bennett wrote. The poem also referred to Cincinnati's "twisted atmosphere."
Chandler told the group that while the hurt runs deep, "remember that violence has never given us anything." He told the congregation to lean on God during such times.
Halfway through the service, images of Jones filled two television screens in a video titled A Lifetime Remembered. The video paid tribute to Jones — a little boy sitting on a porch stoop, his high school graduation, snapshots of him with his children, family and friends.
Immediately following the service, guests gathered outside the temple and sang America the Beautiful after a scripture reading and the release of two white doves.
But all was not serene.
Reminders of the discourse between Cincinnati police and the black community coursed through the crowd. Minister Muhammad Abdul Ali, chairman of the National Black Unity Coalition, chanted "Black Power." He carried in the parking lot a two-sided, bright yellow sign that stated, "Our brother Jones murdered by Cinci Police," and "Cinci Police are murderers."
Jones' two sons, Nathaniel Jr. and Tyriq Holley, live in Cleveland with their mother, Valerie Holley. Outside the temple, after things were again quiet, Tyriq, 11, spoke softly about his father.
"He was a very supportive parent," Tyriq said. "He helped me all the time. He always took care of me and my family."
His mother asked that people discount disparaging references to Jones.
"He was a wonderful person, a loving father," she said, adding that he often drove up to Cleveland with money for his family there.
"He was always there for us," Holley said.
A fund has been set up for Jones' children. Contributions may be mailed to Nathaniel Jones Fund, U.S. Bank-Madeira, 7137 Miami Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45242 — Attn: Jennifer.
Contact Kristin McAllister at (513) 696-4545. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Six Cincinnati police officers have been placed on administrative leave following the death of Nathaniel Jones Sunday, Nov. 30, 2003, in Cincinnati.
Part of the problem may have been that most of these guys just could not physically handle a large man that was mad. Much less one that may have been high.
Skating?? Holy moly, the very idea of a 400 lb. guy coming toward me on a pair of skates fills me with terror.
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