Entertainment: Starting as a Succubus, Taking Hollywood by Storm Chapter 221 - 218: The Cincinnati Riots

Filming for Spider-Man went smoothly.

Martin's version of Spider-Man had more charm compared to Tobey Maguire's portrayal.

"Martin, for this scene, I need you to convey the feeling of hanging by webbing from the Twin Towers (World Trade Center). Rember, beneath your feet is an abyss, and across from you, a helicopter sent by the robbers is coming for you."

Sam Raimi directed the scene, while Martin nodded along, though he felt a sense of confusion.

This scene didn't seem to be part of the original film, did it?

Since the Spider-Man script wasn't written by him, Martin wasn't aware of every detail in the story.

Out of curiosity, he searched through Martin's mories of this year and recalled a major event that would occur in New York.

This scene was likely cut due to that event.

Martin didn't speak up because he couldn't explain the reason, and besides, it was just a small scene that had been removed.

Ti passed to July.

Filming for Spider-Man was nearing completion.

After finishing his scenes for the day, Martin planned to take Gordon to Central Park, where they'd et Jessica, Lindsay, and Doris, who were visiting for the sumr break. Scarlett, on the other hand, was already waiting at the hotel.

Fast forward two and a half months.

In April 2001, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old African Arican man, was an unemployed drifter.

One evening, he had a few drinks and was driving to his girlfriend's house for the night.

As he drove, he suddenly heard the sound of sirens from behind, growing louder.

Timothy glanced into his rearview mirror and cursed under his breath, "Fuck, they're coming after ? Damn pigs!"

He was about to pull over but suddenly rembered he had been drinking and had smoked so marijuana...

No, he couldn't let the police catch him.

Whether it was the alcohol's numbing effect or the drugs, Timothy made a rash decision—he pressed the gas pedal.

"Pull over, white sedan, pull over now..."

Officer Stephen Roach, in the police car, frowned as he watched the sedan speed up ahead. It was just a routine stop; why was the car accelerating?

A sense of suspicion arose.

He ordered the vehicle to pull over while he pressed the accelerator to chase after it.

Boom!

After more than twenty minutes of pursuit, Timothy's car crashed into a stone barrier by the side of the road. He frantically opened the door and ran into the field beside the road.

Officer Stephen Roach also got out of the car and gave chase.

"Stop! Pull over! Stop now!"

With his gun drawn, Stephen Roach continued to shout.

Timothy was out of breath. Though he had only run about twenty ters, he was already winded.

A 400-pound (180 kg) man running twenty ters felt like a marathon to him.

So, he stopped, turned around, and staggered back toward Officer Roach. This was the second mistake he made that night.

Imagine, in the dark of night, a giant weighing 400 pounds walking towards you. Wouldn't it feel intimidating? Wouldn't there be a sense of danger?

Timothy's third mistake was that, as a black man, when facing a police officer approaching him, he didn't raise his hands over his head but instead placed them on his hips.

Maybe he was just too tired, and it was a subconscious action.

But Officer Stephen Roach didn't know that.

Seeing the large black man walking toward him with his hands on his hips, Stephen's first reaction was, "Is he going for a weapon?!"

In Arica, the police profession is split between federal, state, and city/county levels. Aside from federal law enforcent, state, city, county police, and private security agencies are independently governed by local authorities.

Without a unified national police force, federal law enforcent is mainly under the Departnt of Justice, the Departnt of Holand Security, and the U.S. Postal Service. They focus on enforcing federal laws and national cris and have no direct authority over state or city police.

Local police agencies are overseen by city or county governnts. In cities with a strong mayoral system, the mayor is responsible for the police, while in cities with a council system, a police commission handles the departnt.

In short, law enforcent in Arica is fragnted, with each region effectively operating as an ard force for its jurisdiction.

Cincinnati's police departnt was also under the authority of the mayor.

The white mayor of Cincinnati, Charles Luken, was a hidden white supremacist with a tough approach to law enforcent.

Interestingly, nearly 47% of Cincinnati's population was black.

Since Charles Luken took office, tensions between the police and the black community had been escalating.

Just the previous November, two white officers, Baron Oesterman and Jas Pike, had beaten a black suspect to death, almost sparking a riot.

Though the situation was quelled by local influential African Arican figures, the conflict between the police and the black community had only grown more intense.

Several incidents of black individuals attacking police officers followed.

Against this tense backdrop, Officer Stephen Roach was on edge as he watched Timothy's actions.

For him, being a police officer was just a job to make money—no faith, no responsibility, just survival.

The first rule for police in Arica: protect yourself!

Without hesitation, Stephen Roach drew his gun and fired several shots at Timothy, who collapsed to the ground, quickly losing consciousness.

Roach imdiately checked Timothy's body, only to discover that the large man wasn't carrying a weapon.

anwhile, Officer Terry Bales, Roach's partner, who had been searching Timothy's car, heard the gunshots and rushed over to assist.

Upon seeing Timothy lying on the ground, Bales was startled, then said, "This guy pulled a gun."

Stephen Roach, looking frustrated, lifted his head. "No, he didn't have a weapon. But when he approached , his movents looked like he was reaching for one. I had to shoot. Trust , Terry, it wasn't intentional."

"I know, I know, but the situation's really tense right now."

"Am I going to be the scapegoat?"

"So am I. We're partners. If you're in trouble, I'm in trouble too, just like Oesterman and Pike."

"Suspended? Damn, I've got two kids to feed."

"Let think, let think..." Terry circled the body, then suddenly whispered, "Do you have a spare gun, one not registered with the departnt?"

"I've got a revolver," Stephen muttered, rolling up his pant leg.

"Put it in his hand. Do it fast, while no one's around. Damn, if only we had the powder and pills with us. We wouldn't be in this ss!"

In Arica, it's common for police officers to carry two guns: a primary weapon and a backup. So officers, especially in high-risk areas or black neighborhoods, carry a third weapon—an unregistered "black gun" for ergencies.

And this situation certainly counted as one of those ergencies.

What neither of them knew was that two young black n had been hiding in the bushes nearby, recording everything on their phones.

The next day, the video went viral.

The footage brought Cincinnati back into the national spotlight, exposing the racial tensions.

Fad civil rights leader Jesse Jackson issued a statent on the fifth day, demanding federal and state law enforcent to intervene.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Departnt of Justice, Jorge Martinez, said, "We are gathering information to determine whether the FBI should get involved."

Additionally, so demanded the resignation of the head of Cincinnati's police, Thomas Streichler, a close ally of Mayor Luken.

"How many people have to die before the city governnt does sothing?" questioned Nathaniel Livingston Jr., a mber of the local civil rights organization, the Justice Cincinnati Coalition, in a public newspaper article.

Mayor Charles Luken's response was: "From what I know, a 400-pound man violently attacked an officer and posed a threat to their life. But based on the body cam footage, the police didn't make any mistakes. Of course, this doesn't include the framing afterward."

Luken's comnts enraged the local black community, and a riot began to unfold.