Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Nathaniel Jones died in December 2003 after being beaten by police while resisting their attempts to arrest him outside a White Castle hamburger shop in Cincinnati, Ohio. The fact that Jones weighed almost 350 pounds has increased both the publicity surrounding the case and the questions about whether the amount of force used to subdue hm was necessary. "The coroner ruled Jones' death a homicide, but cautioned it did not imply that police used excessive force. The direct cause of death was the struggle, the autopsy showed, but Jones suffered from an enlarged heart and obesity and had intoxicating levels of cocaine, PCP and methanol in his blood." [1] Some local activists immediately denounced the police beating as an example of police brutality and white racism, but Jones's family asked that a planned rally be called off. Two black columnists asked searching questions about drug abuse and personal responsibility, subconscious racism and excessive force. [1] [1] Links Man's family pleads for calm in Cincinnati - Associated Press Defining excessive force - black columnist Clarence Page This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.