African-American celebration tainted by violence

At least eight youths were arrested in the disturbance, but there were no reports of serious injuries, according to police.

CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) -- A weekend celebration of African-American families and youth was tainted by a violent outburst late Saturday in a city that was marred by racial tensions and riots over a year ago.

A large crowd of teens leaving a concert organized by the annual Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion Celebration became disorderly, tipping over garbage cans, tables, and chairs at the event on the city's south side, according to Lt. Kurt Byrd, a spokesman for the city's police department.

After the concert ended around 10 p.m., the crowd then headed into downtown Cincinnati, where they knocked over newspaper stands and blocked intersections, he said.

At least eight of the juveniles were arrested for disorderly conduct and a couple of them were also charged with resisting arrest, Byrd said. Police used mace on one of the teenage rioters, but Byrd said there were no reported injuries.

He blamed the melee on the large number of unsupervised youth at the late night concert, which took place at Sawyer Point Bicentennial Commons and Yeatman's Cove on the Ohio River.

"Random violence sometimes has a tendency to occur when you get a large crowd of young kids together, unsupervised," Byrd said.

He estimated between 2,000 and 3,000 youths attended Saturday night's concert, which included several R&B and rap artists.

The four-day annual event, which brings tens of thousands to downtown Cincinnati, is "generally very orderly," Byrd said, and Saturday night's violence was in no way a reflection on the entire program, which includes seminars on key issues facing black families such as women's health, education, and spirituality.

The Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion was inaugurated in August 1989 in Cincinnati and is held every August, according to the event's Web site.

Last April, rioters took over the city for two days, looting buildings, setting fires, and throwing rocks and bottles at police.

The unrest stemmed from the killing of an unarmed black man by police days earlier -- the fifth African-American killed by Cincinnati police in a seven-month period.

Byrd said Saturday's violence was "not anything remotely close" to April's violence. But the civil disturbance last year helped train Cincinnati police to mobilize quickly in the event of rioting.

"We as the police department, we've become very good at handling these type of events," Byrd said. "We can amass a large amount of manpower in short amount of time."

He said a sudden downpouring of rain helped police control the disturbance from spreading, and police have ordered a larger presence at the events scheduled for Sunday.

One of the organizers for the Black Family Reunion told The Cincinnati Post that this year's celebration was held in Cincinnati despite a year-long boycott against the city by some African-American groups as a result of recent racial tensions.