Cincinnati's coroner on Wednesday ruled the weekend death of Nathaniel Jones a homicide — the result of Jones’ clash with six police officers who struck him with nightsticks as they struggled to subdue him. Calling the death a homicide, he said, ‘‘does not imply hostile or malign intent.’’ But the fight with officers did stress — and stop — Jones’ heart, which was already weakened by coronary disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and the effects of cocaine and PCP. ‘‘Accordingly, his death must be regarded as a consequence of the struggle,’’ he said, explaining why he could not declare the death accidental. The ruling infuriated police. ‘‘These officers did nothing wrong,’’ said Roger Webster, the president of the police union. It also angered Black activists, who seized on the report as proof that police brutality in Cincinnati continues unchecked, despite much-heralded reforms. Jones was the 18th black man in eight years to be killed while fighting or fleeing Cincinnati officers. Union leaders have grown weary of pointing out that the 18 ‘‘victims of police brutality’’ include an axe-wielding killer who had just decapitated a teen-ager, a bank robber, and a 12-year-old driver who dragged a police officer to his death. Jones was unarmed. But he weighed 350 lbs and was behaving erratically. Mayor Charlie Luken has said his bulk alone was a ‘‘deadly weapon’’ and the officers were right to react as though they were under potentially lethal attack when Jones lunged at them. ‘‘To say it’s homicide, that’s a very inflammatory term,’’ said Webster, head of the Fraternal Order of Police. ‘‘There’s no criminal culpability here. These officers did everything by the book. They did not cause this man’s death. He caused it himself, because he chose to fight the police, because he chose to use those drugs.’’ (LAT-WP)
