Sunday, April 23, 2000
Tristate speaks on case
BY Janet C. Wetzel and Earnest Winston
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As Tristate residents bustled about Saturday on the Easter weekend, the name Elian Gonzalez was on their lips.
Hamilton Mayor Adolf Olivas, whose parents were Cuban-born, said federal officials likely minimized the danger to the 6-year-old Cuban boy by removing him from the Miami home safely.
“I don't have any problem with what they did,” said Mr. Olivas, a Hamilton-born lawyer. “Everything that I saw indicated that the family was not going to cooperate” with authorities.
Others had varying opinions:
•Tamara Koerner, 32, a homemaker from West Chester, watching her her daughter, Cassie, 14 months, play, said Elian should have been sent home immediately. But she fears Saturday's forceful removal will leave permanent scars.
“I feel he lost his mother and he should be with the other parent,” Ms. Koerner said. “As a mother, I think it's terrible how this has been handled.”
•Capt. Michael Hall, commander of the Boone County SWAT Team, said Saturday's operation would have been difficult, but officers have to put their personal feelings aside and follow orders.
They are trained to “have an attitude of get the job done with everybody's safety in mind,” Capt. Hall said.
“It's an emotionally charged situation. It's very volatile, coupled with the fact that it's a domestic situation,” said Capt. Hall, who agreed with the tactics used to remove Elian.
•Tony Carner, 35, an electrician from Fort Mitchell, said Elian should have been sent home to his father, who wanted to take care of him.
“I don't understand why they let this go on this long,” Mr. Carner said. “I don't think going in there and ripping him away with guns was right. ... They could have found a better way.”
ãHamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, said Attorney General Janet Reno's actions were appropriate, and appeared to be the only choice.
“It's unfortunate that it had to come down to this,” he said. “But at end of day, the law has to prevail.”
•Zach Starkie, 17, Hamilton, a Ross High School junior, said Elian has become a pop icon for anti-communist sentiment.
“I think it's silly that they put a little boy in the center of world politics,” Zach said.
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