Police Use Tear Gas on ‘Wilding’ Youths

Cincinnati police used tear gas to break up a crowd of more than 2,000 youths who ran “wilding” through a black family festival.

Groups of 10 to 150 youths, mostly 16-to 18-year-olds, moved through a downtown park and into the city’s center, starting fights and overturning tables, police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd said.

At least eight people were arrested. There were reports of gunshots, and several people were taken to the hospital with injuries.

The three-day festival, which continues today, is designed to focus positive attention on black families. Cincinnati had three days of rioting in April 2001 after a white police officer shot a black man who was fleeing police.