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INSIDE, 8A THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2021 | CINCINNATI.COM | PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
KIDS WHO KILL
A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE SPEAKS
‘A complete act of betrayal’ Civil rights advocates say top exec fed info to anti-Muslim group USA TODAY NETWORK
‘Our kids are the scariest criminals’ Dan Horn Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK
This year in Hamilton County, 15 juveniles have been charged with murder, more than were charged in the last four years combined. Why the increase? 'Kids Who Kill,' The Enquirer's series on juvenile violence, continues with this conversation. Police Detective Takia Smith works in the violent crimes unit and investigates homicides. A Cincinnati native who grew up in English Woods and West Price Hill, she’s familiar with the neighborhoods where the violence she investigates occurs. She’s the mother of a 14-year-old girl. Enquirer reporter Dan Horn:I know what the numbers say, but what are you seeing out there? Det. Smith: Last year, we saw young people, but not teenagers. This year, it’s the teenagers. They don’t know how to rationalize. They don’t know how to communicate. They are driven by
their anger. It’s like a toddler. If an adult slaps a 2-year-old on the hand and tells them ‘no,’ the 2year-old will hit you right back. Because that’s what they’re reacting to. They don’t think. They don’t rationalize. Whereas an adult, they have a lot to think about. They rationalize: I have a girlfriend or a wife. I might have kids. I’ve been in jail before. I don’t want to go to jail again. Teenagers don’t do that? They’re willing to throw it away because they want to be accepted somewhere. A lot of times it’s clout. This is what I did. Now they’re accepted somewhere.
Now somebody is hyping them up. It’s just scary. Even young rappers, what they’re rapping about, they’re really doing it. Every year, they’re really dying, really going to jail. They’re not just telling stories anymore. They’re doing it. These young people, they’re impressionable. They mirror what they see. If you look at their Facebook, because we follow a lot of these on
A local Muslim advocacy group is considering legal action after it found out that its now-former executive director was feeding confi dential information to an anti-Muslim group over the past several years. The Council on American Islamic Relations Columbus and Cincinnati chapter (CAIR-Ohio) fi red Romin Iqbal, its executive director since 2018, on Tuesday after an investigation by CAIR national headquarters found that he had been sharing confi dential meeting recordings and emails with the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), a Washington D.C.-based antiMuslim group. Iqbal Whitney Siddiqi, community aff airs director for CAIR-Ohio, said Iqbal’s actions were “a complete act of betrayal,” but that the organization remains resolute in its work and Siddiqi undeterred. Iqbal, of Dublin, referred requests for comment to his attorney Wednesday morning. His attorney, David H. Thomas, a partner at Taft Law’s Compliance, Investigations and White Collar Defense practice group based in Downtown Columbus, said he has no comment on the allegations against his client. Iqbal, who has been outspoken against Islamophobia during his time with CAIR-Ohio, confessed to secretly working with IPT after he was confronted with evidence, according to the organization’s news release. CAIR-Ohio isn’t sure what Iqbal’s motive may have been, but said his efforts were carried out in a “planned and purposeful” manner over the course of years. Columbus offi ce staff members also found a package with AR-15 weapon
See KIDS, Page 6A
See CAIR, Page 7A
Detective Takia Smith is pictured inside the offices of the Cincinnati Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Section in Queensgate. MEG VOGEL/THE ENQUIRER
Inside A mother speaks. 6A
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