Offensive demonstrations cause outrage in Summit County
While the bridge is in Boston Heights, it is a part of a Summit Metro Parks hike-bike trail, so it is Metro Parks property.
East Cleveland mayor fires police chief: I-Team
During the late June demonstration, Boston Heights police, as well as Metroparks rangers, responded after five or six people were on the bridge attaching an offensive sign to fencing on the bridge.
'We responded on scene and we asked them to remove the signs from the bridge because it is on Metroparks and we don't allow anything to be affixed to any type of structure. They can hold them, but they can also not impede bike traffic or people walking or jogging on our bike paths as well,' Metroparks Chief John Hamblen said.
Boston Heights police said the demonstrators were asked for their identification, but they would not comply. They also say that the group was 'peaceful,' so officers did not interfere with their demonstration.
'As long as they are being peaceful and not being disorderly or disruptive to other park users, then they are not committing any type of violation,' Hamblen said.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 'Cosby Show' star, dies at 54
On Saturday, a smaller number of them returned with an antisemitic message.
On social media, news of the demonstrations triggered outrage. People decrying the message and the messengers include Democratic Ohio State Senator Casey Weinstein of Hudson.
Weinstein wrote on Facebook after the June demonstration, 'I strongly condemn this vile display of hatred and cowardice by these pathetic masked Nazis who protested in our district. Their presence is a direct threat to our shared values of equality, decency, and unity….'
Saturday's demonstration triggered a counter demonstration on Sunday by a group calling itself the 'Burning River Brigade.'
'Many vehicles are honking and waving. We have had a few flip us the bird, which tells you that we are a divided nation, but we will stand up for what we believe,' Becky Morgan said.
4 teens shot, 1 dead at unpermitted block party in Cleveland
Weinstein was among those crediting the counter-demonstration. But police said the messages, however offensive, are protected by the First Amendment.
'It's not against the law to write on a board or a sheet or whatever you are carrying as long as you don't block user traffic,' Hamblen said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
11 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
A cop or a criminal? Police stop motorcyclist with uniform, badge and gun and learn he's a convicted felon
At first glance, police say, his uniform and his motorcycle had all the trappings of local law enforcement. The motorcycle had emergency lights and 'Traffic' and 'Public Safety' emblazoned on the side, pictures show. His uniform allegedly included a tactical vest, pepper spray, a badge and a gun. But in reality, Hemet police say, the man was a convicted felon impersonating local law enforcement. According to a Facebook post on Tuesday, Hemet police said they pulled over a motorcyclist who turned out to be a convicted felon allegedly impersonating a police officer. He also appeared to have a Glock-style handgun on his duty belt. The man, identified as Marshal Goodnight, 73, was armed with two stun guns, an expandable baton, handcuffs and pepper spray, the department said. Goodnight was wearing a tactical vest, olive slacks and a beige shirt, complete with a badge and what appeared to be a body camera and radio equipment. Police say they pulled over Goodnight on Monday after they saw him commit multiple vehicle code violations and activate emergency lights on his motorcycle. Goodnight was detained and Hemet police determined that his stun guns were in working condition. Goodnight is a convicted felon who is not legally allowed to possess firearms or related weapons, according to police. He's also not licensed to provide security in the state of California. Police arrested and booked Goodnight on several misdemeanor counts: suspicion of being a felon in possession of a stun gun; possession of a baton; being a felon in possession of a tear gas weapon; and for impersonating a peace officer. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact the Hemet Police Department at (951) 765-2400, Ext. 3725.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
House stymied as Speaker Johnson's handpicked committee rebels over Epstein
A rebellion over the Jeffrey Epstein files by Republican leadership allies on the House Rules Committee is giving Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) one of the trickiest conundrums of his Speakership so far. Members on the panel — often called the 'Speaker's Committee' in reference to it being a tool of leadership — held up action on a host of planned legislation this week because they were terrified of Democrats forcing more tough votes on releasing the Epstein files. Democrats are trying to force a vote on a bipartisan resolution that would compel the publication of the files. Johnson's handpicked GOP Rules Committee members, meanwhile, are pressing him to bring up an alternative, nonbinding resolution to release the documents. But it's not clear that the GOP-crafted measure could garner enough support in the slim majority to pass. Sign up for the latest from The Hill here Stymied by the Epstein debate and unable to bring up anything but noncontroversial bills under suspension of the rules because of the standstill, House GOP leaders canceled votes scheduled for Thursday — sending House members home for August recess one day early. Unlike other fights during Johnson's Speakership, the problem this time isn't hard-line conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus, but rather members Johnson has counted on in the past to push his priorities through the Rules Committee and to the House floor. Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), who sits on the Rules Committee, raised concerns with having to vote on the Democratic-led amendment during a private meeting with leadership and other top House leaders Monday, two sources told The Hill. She advocated for voting on the Republican resolution or a different measure for transparency, one of the sources said, which have key differences from the Democratic-crafted measure. And while members of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus who sit on the panel — namely Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) — are also advocating for more Epstein disclosures, multiple sources tell The Hill it is primarily concerns from other members holding up committee action. Johnson has publicly defended the holdup in the Rules Committee by saying Republicans will not allow Democrats' 'political games.' 'We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram. The Rules Committee became the ground for them to do that. We're not going to allow them to engage in that charade anymore,' Johnson said in a press conference Tuesday. But by acquiescing to his members' demands to stall planned House action over fear of the Democratic committee votes, Democrats are getting a win in their endeavor to squeeze Republicans on the issue and keep it — and GOP infighting — in the headlines. Demands from Rules Committee Republicans for a parallel alternative to Democratic amendments marks a stark departure from the normal business in the House. The normal legislative game in Congress is for the minority party to try to force the majority party into politically tricky votes, and the majority party to dismiss those efforts — a dynamic that Republican strategist Brendan Buck, a former aide to former Speakers Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio), alluded to in a post on the social platform X. 'Respectfully, Rs on the Rules committee need to toughen up a bit and vote down these amendments. That's sort of your job,' Buck said. 'I promise you won't lose your seat over a few procedural committee votes.' The Speaker has the sole authority to appoint Republican members to the panel — and to remove them. One option for Johnson, if he were to take a tough stance, is to replace the members who are nervous about the Epstein votes. But Johnson, who has become known for being exceedingly patient with and sympathetic to all corners of the House GOP, is letting the members take the stand for now — hoping the upcoming August recess will create the time and space to resolve the Epstein issues. Asked about the possibility of replacing the Rules Committee members who are holding up action, Johnson told The Hill: 'No, I haven't considered that at all.' 'They serve at the Speaker's request, and so long as they're willing to volunteer for that service. It's not an easy job. So we'll see,' Johnson said. For now, Johnson is stuck in a difficult balancing act of weighing the eagerness among members to cast a vote in favor of releasing the Epstein documents, the outcry from the MAGA base, and his vested interest in placating Trump, who has urged GOP lawmakers to drop the matter — all while trying to manage the House floor. The Speaker is largely deferring to the efforts by the Trump administration to offer transparency on the matter. Relenting to the outcry from the base, Trump last week directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts in the Epstein matter. And the Department of Justice said Tuesday it would seek new information from Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's ex-girlfriend and accomplice. Between those actions and the nonbinding Epstein disclosure resolution the Rules Committee Republicans advanced last week, leaders had hoped the now monthlong Epstein drama may die down in the House this week. Johnson said he would not bring the nonbinding resolution up before the August recess. That's peeving some Rules members. Norman, a Rules Committee member who is part of the Freedom Caucus, is openly calling for a vote on the GOP-led resolution. 'I led Republicans in a serious resolution — that protects victims — to expose the truth about the Epstein files, just like President Trump promised. But leadership is stalling,' Norman wrote Tuesday on X. 'The American people deserve action, not excuses. Let's vote on it before August recess and get it DONE!!' But it's unclear that could pass in the razor-thin majority, given several Republicans throwing their support behind a bipartisan measure from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Their measure would have more legal weight to force release of documents. Massie and Khanna are planning to use the discharge petition measure, a procedural gambit to override leadership and force measures to the floor with 218 signatures. Discharge petitions are rarely successful, but with 11 Republicans so far in support of the measure, Massie and Khanna are projecting confidence they can force the vote when the House returns in September. Johnson on Tuesday expressed his frustrations with Massie, who has become a top GOP antagonist of Trump in Congress, for spearheading the push. 'I don't understand Thomas Massie's motivation, I really don't. I don't know how his mind works. I don't know what he's thinking. Thomas Massie could have brought his discharge petition any time over the last four and a half years,' Johnson said, adding the ultimate Southern dig: 'Bless his heart.' Asked what her panel was doing Tuesday, House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) told The Hill: 'Nothing, right now.' The holdup is frustrating Republicans in other corners of the conference. Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), the lead sponsor of an immigration enforcement bill that was scheduled to come for a House vote after being approved by the Rules panel, expressed her disappointment it was delayed over the Epstein drama. 'I do think that we do need to come to some sort of resolution, though, sooner rather than later. We cannot let this drag on,' Bice told reporters Tuesday. Rep. Gregory Murphy (R-N.C.) lamented that the topic is taking away attention from other GOP priorities. 'This is so myopic. We should be working on the things of trade, health care, all the things that matter rather than bringing out information which potentially and probably will damage a bunch of absolutely innocent lives,' Murphy said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Alina Habba politicized her job as US attorney. Team Trump politicizes her exit.
Alina Habba has no business being a federal prosecutor. That didn't stop the Trump administration from trying to make it happen. President Donald Trump and the crew of cynical sycophants surrounding him can seem pretty unpredictable until you start spotting the patterns. On matters of law and order, expect the inversion of what Trump claims to be true. If he says he's ending the "weaponization" of the Department of Justice, you better believe he'll use that legal power like a blunt instrument to pound away at his perceived enemies, no matter what the law allows, no matter how inept his agents are. That's why the kerfuffle about Trump's pick for U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, feels so predictable. Habba was widely seen as inexperienced when she represented Trump in a 2024 New York defamation case, which he lost. But she played the part of a lawyer in a passable way while lavishing Trump with loyalty on Fox News so, of course, he made her the top prosecutor for the entire state of New Jersey. And, of course, she made a mess of it, politicizing the office from the get-go in a set of fits-and-starts prosecutions against Democrats in the state who are critical of Trump's deport-them-all approach to immigration. But Habba faced two roadblocks that Trump and her DOJ cheerleaders, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, couldn't push her past. Alina Habba was clearly not experienced enough for US attorney job Federal prosecutors are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. And Senate protocol gives the two senators from any state significant yay-or-nay say over those picks. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, the two Democratic senators from New Jersey, jointly announced on July 2 that Habba "in her short tenure as interim U.S. Attorney ... has degraded the office and pursued frivolous and politically motivated prosecutions." So, that was a nay from them. Habba had another chance. The federal judges of the District of New Jersey could have voted to keep her on the job, past the 120-day limit of her interim capacity as U.S. attorney. That deadline expired July 22. But the judges also said nay to Habba. Opinion: Gabbard yells 'Russia hoax' to distract MAGA from Epstein for Trump. It won't last. In an order at the deadline, Chief Judge Renee Marie Bumb named an experienced prosecutor who had been serving as New Jersey's first deputy U.S. attorney, Desiree Leigh Grace, as Habba's replacement, effective the same day. What came next was as predictable as the rest of it. Trump's MAGA administration wasted no time attacking the courts Bondi and Blanche accused the judges of playing politics because they would not rubber-stamp Habba, who was so clearly playing politics with her role. And Bondi removed Grace from the job she had just been given, whining that "rogue judges" had impeded Trump's presidential power. So an experienced prosecutor got bounced from the job that Habba just got bounced from for being inexperienced and using the job like a political activist. Experience is really a red flag to a crew trying to invert the meaning of justice. Grace's removal injected yet more chaos into the office of a federal prosecutor, which had already been a mess under Habba. Booker and Kim, in a joint statement on July 22, pointed to a pattern of Trump's DOJ attacking judges and the rule of law. "The firing of a career public servant, lawfully appointed by the court, is another blatant attempt to intimidate anyone that doesn't agree with them and undermine judicial independence," Booker and Kim said. Opinion: MAGA is coming for Trump over lost Epstein files. Bondi may pay the price. Here's what comes next: Habba will play the victim, with Bondi and Blanche sobbing along. Then Trump will sneer about "activist judges," a favorite villain in the trite emails he sends out all the time, pleading with his supporters to give him money. And then Trump will find another spot for her, probably at the DOJ, definitely not in a post where the Senate has to weigh her qualifications. That part's not too difficult to predict, because we've already seen it. Habba isn't the only Trump loyalist to secure a position in this administration Trump picked Ed Martin, a devoted supporter with scant legal background and zero experience as a prosecutor, to be the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, right after the inauguration. Martin got right to work on Trump's inversion of justice, serving as one of the early inquisitors of how federal agents and prosecutors investigated the rioters who invaded and ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Trump refused to admit that he had lost the 2020 presidential election. Opinion: Donald Trump's Jan. 6 pardons cast a long shadow over justice six months later Martin's nomination stalled in the Senate in May and, facing the same 120-day deadline problem as Habba, Trump had to hand the gig off instead to one of his most fervent Fox News supporters, Jeanine Pirro. Martin wasn't sent packing. He landed another DOJ gig in the new Weaponization Working Group, which Bondi claims was set up to stop the politicization of the agency. But, remember, inversion is always at play here. So Bondi, with Trump's blessing, is really using the group to weaponize justice as a tool for political power. If Habba travels the same route, and that does seem likely, she'll finally be in a post she's qualified for ‒ using the levers of power at DOJ to punish anyone Trump feels is out of line. See her potential job description this way: Think of what an experienced, professional, principled lawyer would do ‒ and then wait for her to invert that expectation. Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.
