Racial tension has persisted in Cincinnati for decades. Among incidents leading up to the April riots and Friday's proposed boycott of the annual Taste of Cincinnati festival:

        • May 31, 2000: African-Americans protest at City Hall after Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher is accused of using a racial slur in a training class. The chief, who says the remark was meant to show officers what they might hear on the streets, is counseled by his boss.

        Ù• July 2000: Many downtown restaurants close during Ujima and the Cincinnati Coors Light Jazz Festival, leading black activists to accuse owners of racism.

        • Nov. 7, 2000: Roger Owensby Jr. is asphyxiated in police custody as officers try to arrest him in Roselawn.

        • Nov. 8, 2000: Jeffrey Irons is fatally shot by an officer after struggling with police after allegedly stealing deodorant and shaving cream from a Pleasant Ridge grocery store. Mr. Irons grabbed a sergeant's gun and shot Officer Tim Pappas in the hand before another officer, Frederick Gilmer, shot and killed him.

        • Nov. 13, 2000: Angry citizens pack City Council chambers to protest the deaths of Mr. Owensby, Mr. Irons and other young black males killed during their arrests by Cincinnati police.

        • December 2000: The Rev. Damon Lynch III and other black leaders encourage a boycott of downtown businesses to protest restaurants closing during Ujima and the Coors Light festival.

        • March 14: Black activists and the American Civil Liberties Union sue the city of Cincinnati, asking a federal court to end what they say has been 30 years of unchecked discrimination by police officers.

        • April 7: Cincinnati Officer Stephen Roach, who had been pursuing 19-year-old Timothy Thomas in Over-the-Rhine, shoots and kills the unarmed African-American at 13th and Republic streets. Mr. Thomas is the 15th African-American to die in confrontations with Cincinnati police since 1995.

        • April 9: A group of citizens takes over a City Council committee meeting, demanding to know why Mr. Thomas was shot. That night, protesters break City Hall windows and gather outside police headquarters on Ezzard Charles Drive.

        • April 10: Civil unrest turns violent; protesters overturn planters and hot dog stands, break windows, and pull several white motorists from their cars and assault them.

        • April 11: Random violence — arson, assault, looting, property destruction and shooting — occurs in communities from Over-the-Rhine to Norwood. A Cincinnati police officer is shot, but his belt buckle deflects the bullet and he is not injured. A Justice Department team arrives in the city to investigate whether it should begin a civil-rights investigation into the “patterns and practices” of Cincinnati's Police Division.

        • April 12: Mayor Charlie Luken declares a state of emergency and a citywide curfew beginning at 8 p.m. It ends after four nights, with calm restored.

        • April 13: Under pressure from some City Council members, Kent Ryan steps down as the city's public safety director, citing health reasons.

        • April 14: Mr. Thomas is buried. An investigation is begun after six Cincinnati SWAT officers are accused by witnesses of shooting beanbags into a peaceful crowd at Liberty and Elm streets.

        • April 16: The six officers, said to be emotionally devastated by being under criminal investigation by the FBI, are put on paid leave for two weeks.

        • April 26: Two of four people hit by beanbags in the April 14 incident after Mr. Thomas' funeral file a civil lawsuit seeking at least $2 million.

        • May 2: City Manager John Shirey, criticized by some City Council members for his handling of the unrest and riots, agrees to resign effective Dec. 1.

        • May 2: City Council agrees to an unprecedented attempt to settle through mediation a federal lawsuit that accuses police of racial profiling.

        • May 3: A Hamilton County grand jury begins hearing evidence in the case of Mr. Thomas' shooting.

        • May 7: Grand jury returns charges of negligent homicide and obstructing official business, both misdemeanors, against Officer Roach. The U.S. Justice Department announces a formal investigation into Cincinnati police's alleged pattern of excessive force violating the civil rights of residents.

        • May 9: Organizers cancel the annual Pepsi Jammin' on Main music festival in Over-the-Rhine, citing miserable ticket sales. .

        • May 18: A group of 75 ministers called Concerned Clergy calls for a general boycott of Taste of Cincinnati.
       

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