On May 1, 2025, a Cincinnati, Ohio, cop shot and killed Ryan Hinton weeks after his 18th birthday. The next day, his father, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton, tried to watch the bodycam footage. He couldn't. Just hours later, Hinton allegedly struck and killed Cincinnati officer Larry Henderson with his car. Now, he's facing one charge of aggravated murder, suggesting life in prison—or execution.
The name of Ryan's killer is unreleased, a sly weaponization of Marsy's Law, legislation designed to protect the identities of “victims” of violence. Dozens of cops packed the courtroom during Hinton's appearances but they did not seem to intimidate him.
Within days, donors met Ryan’s $50,000 GoFundMe goal. GoFundMe removed fundraisers for Rodney Hinton after 23,000 Ohio cops objected. Still, supporters maxed out his commissary deposits. Why?
Hinton attracts supporters because of a foundational truth that roots deeper than "an eye for an eye." The criminal legal system suggests that violence solves violence by creating violence itself. Human beings become suspects who are then subject to brutality, exploitation, and execution at authorities' discretion.
While exiting court, Hinton turned to Cincinnati deputies to speak. "Forever. He's gonna be gone forever." Death is final, for both Henderson and his son. Black America already knows the perpetual injustice of sudden loss, from police deeming us interchangeably criminal to state-sanctioned lynchings. Policing isn’t making us safer.