Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken criticized his opponent Friday for “a complete lack of judgment” for participating in a march through Over-the-Rhine after Officer Stephen Roach's not-guilty verdict last month.

        Mr. Luken was responding to Courtis Fuller's statement at a forum Thursday that Mr. Luken's curfew the night of the verdict was “probably unnecessary.”

        “Mr. Fuller's opinion clearly demonstrated his lack of knowledge about city government and law and order,” Mr. Luken said. “Safety needed to be restored to the streets, and that's why a curfew was necessary.”

        Mr. Fuller walked with the Rev. Damon Lynch III the night of Sept. 26, after Officer Roach was acquitted in the fatal shooting in April of Timothy Thomas that led to rioting in the city.

        He asked people to pray for Angela Leisure, the mother of Mr. Thomas, as well as for Officer Roach.

        Mr. Luken said that march “created conditions that required a curfew.” And he has criticized the Rev. Mr. Lynch for the march from day one.

        Mr. Luken said he called the curfew at the request of the police chief and the safety director, after reports of garbage fires and rocks and bottles being thrown at police officers and firefighters.

        “Had Rev. Lynch and Mr. Fuller chosen not to lead groups of people through Over-the-Rhine, a curfew may not have been necessary.”

        Mr. Fuller's spokeswoman, Donna Rogers, said Mr. Luken's remarks are “open to debate,” but that she could make just as strong a case that Mr. Fuller's participation helped calm the situation.

        “I was in that march, and those folks were completely peaceful,” she said. “There weren't folks creating havoc. The havoc was already out there.”

        She said the mayor's remarks demonstrated a fundamental difference between the two candidates in how they deal with differing opinions.

        The Rev. Mr. Lynch also defended the march.

        “What we did in Over-the-Rhine that night was the same thing we've been doing the past 13 weeks. The mayor himself went on one of our nightly walks with us,” he said.

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