Cincinnati councilwoman apologizes after Cheapside Cafe bodycam video released

Councilwoman Tamaya Dennard apologized Friday for a Facebook post criticizing a local cafe owner and police after body camera footage of the incident was released.

Earlier in the week, Dennard shared a personal post from a Cheapside Cafe customer, detailing an incident in which the customer said a black homeless man was kicked out of the restaurant by police for no reason.

The resulting social media backlash led to death threats for owner Joe Creighton, who disputed the version of events in his own Facebook post.

In the body camera video posted by Cincinnati Police on Thursday, officers are seen walking into Cheapside. They approach the man who is sleeping, wake him up and ask him to leave.

A woman hands him a water bottle as he talks briefly with police before leaving. Once outside, police tell him to not come back or he could be arrested and the man leaves after a some back and forth with an officer who repeatedly tells him to not come back.

Dennard posted an apology on Facebook after the video came out. Earlier, Dennard had raised concerns about calling police on a black man.

"I accept full responsibility for my Facebook post regarding Cheapside’s reaction to the gentleman in their establishment. I apologize to Mr. Creighton, Chief Isaac and the responding officers," Dennard said.

Police released the video on Thursday after a Cheapside co-owner came to police because he had received threats.

"In the spirit of transparency, we are releasing this body-cam footage of our officers interaction with this citizen to help provide the proper context of this situation. This is a reminder that things are not always as they appear or as described in social media posts," police said. "We would like to recognize the professional conduct of our officers and the patience they demonstrated in this situation."

Joe Creighton, Cheapside owner, debunked the initial customer post and Dennard's following post, saying the man was removed because he was rude to employees and customers and has a history of violence.

Creighton said the homeless man came into Cheapside, at 326 E. Eighth St., Downtown. He stayed there for more than four hours, during which he harassed employees, ate a sandwich that was purchased for him by another customer and fell asleep at a table.

"He didn’t order anything, just walked around the restaurant and was acting strange and being rude to a couple of customers," a Facebook post from Cheapside said. "When our server gave him his sandwich, he called her a 'mother*****r.' "

The initial Facebook post from Pamela Joy Miller, a social worker, detailed what she saw happen. She said the man was resting and not bothering anyone at the time when four Cincinnati Police officers arrived to "kick him out."

Cheapside said it's easy to judge a situation based on a quick observation.

Creighton said this is not the first time they have called police on the man for verbally abusing staff and the man has "a reputation for becoming agitated" with police.

"Other businesses in the area also had complaints about this man. The police told us that we should not attempt to confront him in any way and to call them and let them handle the situation, because it was not safe. That is exactly what we did," the Cheapside response post said.

On Thursday, Miller said she felt bad that the incident was blown out of proportion online, but that she made the post on her private page and did not expect it to be shared. She also stood by her statement that the situation could have been handled differently, even with the additional information from Cheapside.

She said she was uncomfortable when police surrounded the man and seemed to be more confrontational than they needed to be.

"People deserve compassion," Miller said.

On top of that, Miller said cafe employees didn't explain why police were called and that police never came back to talk to her after she tried to intervene, which left her confused.

As a social worker, Miller said there are other ways the situation could have been handled. She said she tried to intervene and pass on resources to the man who was kicked out because she was concerned about the heat.

Miller said citizens can call 211 to connect with United Way and its resources to pass on or they can contact Shelterhouse, which helps provide transportation to shelters. The public libraries and city-run recreation centers also provide shelter from the heat for people who are homeless.

On Wednesday, Dennard said she deleted her initial post that shared Miller's story after talking to Cheapside's owner and made a second post.

"Sometimes people need to call law enforcement. But I don’t think white people fully appreciate what it means to call the police on black people. The privilege of not being able to see the danger it could be to us must be nice," Dennard said.

But Creighton said it isn't about race, it's about the safety of employees and customers. He said that on a daily basis, homeless people come in to charge their phones, get water and take a break from the elements.

One good thing Creighton hopes will come from the incident and the subsequent backlash is a conversation about finding a solution for people struggling with homelessness. He said there aren't enough resources to help people who are struggling.

"Obviously we all need to come together to fix this issue," Creighton said. "People need to be working together to make Cincinnati a better place."

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the day the incident occurred.