Ohio town orders review of police response to neo-Nazi demonstrators

A small Ohio municipality has apologized for not publicly responding to neo-Nazi demonstrators, some holding flags with swastikas, who marched in town recently, and ordered an independent review of how police handled the matter.

Residents had urged officials in Evendale, a suburb of Cincinnati, to explain what prompted the protest and why no one was arrested in the Feb. 7 incident that ended when a group of Black residents confronted the marchers and burned their flags.

“We apologize about not meeting or speaking to you sooner about the problems,” Mayor Richard Finan said in a Monday news conference, adding that officials wanted to determine what transpired before addressing the public.

“We want to improve, make things better and see if we did anything wrong on that day,” he said.

About a dozen black-clad demonstrators, some of whom were armed and holding Nazi flags, marched on a freeway overpass before being confronted by a larger group of Black residents, some of whom were also armed. The march took place near Lincoln Heights, a historically Black community.

Black leaders and residents in the Cincinnati metro area said they were frustrated that the demonstrators were allowed to march at all and requested an investigation into the response by Evendale police and Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies.

The Rev. Julian Armand Cook, of Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, who was not involved in the confrontation, said he found the demonstration disturbing.

“To see it show up at the gateway to this historic community, the first, the oldest Black, self-governed city north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it is very clear what message it is sending,” he told NBC News earlier this month. “So it was — I was angry. I was hurt. I was shocked.”

Evendale police have said no laws were broken and officers were obligated to protect the demonstrators’ First Amendment right to free speech.

“Any public space can suddenly become the location of a demonstration,” Evendale Police Chief Timothy Holloway said at the news conference. “These sort of demonstrations are always a possibility.”

Evendale officials said they have hired Chicago-based 21CP Solutions, a public safety consulting firm, to conduct the review. The process will take about three months, they said. 

“What happened in Lincoln Heights was awful, heinous, hurtful, hateful, use the word you want to describe,” Evendale Council Member Chris Patterson said. “It’s something that none of us liked and we are absolutely committed to doing what we can to reassure the community.”

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval condemned the actions of the protesters shortly after the demonstration ended.

“Messages of hate like this have no place in our region. It was shocking and disgusting to see swastikas displayed in Evendale,” he wrote on X. “This is not what we stand for, and it will never be what we stand for.”