Ohio cities report more arrests overnight, reporters

CINCINNATI (AP) — Police in Ohio cities said dozens more people were arrested in protests over the death of George Floyd.

However, Cincinnati authorities said Monday night’s activity marked some progress from weekend nights, when hundreds of people were arrested.

Cincinnati police said 40 to 50 people were arrested, many for violating an 8 p.m. curfew. Police said several weapons were seized, including one with a 100-round magazine.

Mayor John Cranley apologized for the police detention Monday night of a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter, calling it “a big mistake.” He was released without charges.

At least one other reporter was pushed by police Monday night. Cincinnati police “apologized for any inconvenience” on its Twitter account, saying officers were trying to clear a street while withstanding rocks thrown at them.

Police in Columbus and Cleveland also enforced curfews Monday night.

More than 200 people were arrested over the weekend during protests sparked by the May 25 death of Floyd in Minnesota. Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed, died after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had called out the Guard and highway patrol Saturday to help enforce laws in Cleveland and Columbus, where the mayors said more than 100 properties were damaged.

Across the state, the damage was still being tallied from the unrest that also swept up Toledo, Akron and Dayton over the weekend.

City officials in Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati over the weekend said they believed that out-of-towners were largely responsible for the violent protests that erupted in their cities. But since then, media outlets reviewed court records and reported that the large majority of those arrested during the protests were local or Ohio residents.

Nearly all of the 99 people arrested Saturday in downtown Cleveland were from the city or its surrounding suburbs, cleveland.com reported.

Toledo’s police chief and mayor said on Monday that all but one of the 22 people arrested Saturday were from the city but they maintained that there were outside “professional agitators” who contributed to the trouble.

___

Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo contributed.