Latest news with #LincolnHeightsSafetyandWatchProgram
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Majority-Black Ohio Town Residents Take Things Into Their Own Hands Following Neo-Nazi Demonstration
On Feb. 7, a Uhaul van full of neo-Nazis gathered in the predominantly Black Cincinnati suburb of Lincoln Heights. They wore masks and carried guns as they called residents racist slurs. The group of white supremacists also waved flags with red swastikas on a highway overpass. Two weeks after that disturbing incident, someone—presumably another white supremacist—spread racist pamphlets from the Ku Klux Klan all over Lincoln Heights. Disappointed by local law enforcement officials who didn't spring into action to protect them, Black residents have now taken things into their own hands. The Washington Post reported that Black men are carrying rifles to guard the roads that lead directly into Lincoln Heights, questioning anyone trying to enter the suburb. Ohio is an open-carry state and folks are taking advantage of that, according to Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program spokesperson Daronce Daniels. 'An American individual protecting his homeland with a firearm — I thought that was the most American thing that we [could] do,' Daniels explained to the outlet. The watch program coordinates who serves as guards for Lincoln Heights, which boasts a modest population of 3,000 people. In 2014, the suburb's police department disbanded (the area is now served by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office). Following the Feb. 7 demonstration, residents—alongside Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece—questioned why police made no arrests or citations after the neo-Nazis intimidated residents and threatened racist violence. Evendale police also released body-camera footage showing officers being cordial with the masked group. Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey ultimately called the white supremacists 'cowards' during a news conference and said that officers would investigate further. Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program organizes around 70 guards who patrol the streets. Currently, the Hamilton County prosecuting attorney's office is reviewing the neo-Nazi rally to determine if criminal charges will be made. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Boston Globe
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Neo-Nazis targeted a majority-Black town. Locals launched an armed watch.
Two weeks later, on a Sunday, another agitator struck, spreading racist pamphlets from the Ku Klux Klan across Lincoln Heights. 'You get punched,' said Alandes Powell, 62, a nonprofit director who lives near the town. 'And someone comes and punches you again.' The people of Lincoln Heights are used to fighting for themselves. The town originated as a self-governing Black community — the oldest north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it proclaims on its website — that lacked public services. For years, residents have complained of underinvestment and neglect. But the past few weeks have been different. Residents say they are distraught after being surrounded by hate and suspicious of police officers whom county officials criticized for not cracking down on the neo-Nazi march. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Many of the town's residents are adamant that taking up arms is the only solution, even as some have questioned whether they want their neighbors taking advantage of Ohio's open-carry law to begin an armed watch program. Advertisement 'An American individual protecting his homeland with a firearm — I thought that was the most American thing that we [could] do,' said Daronce Daniels, a spokesman for the newly formed Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program, which coordinates the guards. Lincoln Heights originated in the 1920s as a Black enclave for laborers blocked from Cincinnati and surrounding towns because of their race, according to the Cincinnati Preservation Association. The village lacked adequate street lighting and fire and police departments. A nearby city pushed back when Lincoln Heights attempted to incorporate and establish municipal services; by the time it did in 1946, it had lost much of its tax base to neighboring communities. Residents are proud of their history. And they say Lincoln Heights, now a town of about 3,000, continues to be neglected. Its police department was disbanded in 2014; the area is served by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. It took a years-long campaign to get the county to relocate a nearby Cincinnati Police Department gun range that regularly sent the crack of gunshots echoing through the streets. Advertisement But the community never imagined staring down a neo-Nazi march. Around 2 p.m. on Feb. 7, a U-Haul van brought a group of at least a dozen neo-Nazi demonstrators to a highway overpass near the village border. The agitators wore body armor, carried AR-15-style rifles, and waved swastika flags. They arrived as children were being let out from class at Lincoln Heights Elementary School and marched just blocks away. 'The way I found out that the Nazis were in my neighborhood was through children," said DeRonda Calhoun, 45, a teacher who lives in Lincoln Heights. 'They were afraid.' The demonstrators left after a large group of Lincoln Heights residents showed up to counterprotest. But the incident sparked outrage — at the neo-Nazis and at sheriff's officers and the neighboring Evendale police who responded to the march. Residents, joined by Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece, questioned why law enforcement made no citations or arrests during the incident after allegations that the neo-Nazi group had intimidated residents and made racist threats. Evendale police released body-camera footage of an officer appearing to act cordially with the demonstrators after they left the area, advising one man to change his shirt before driving him back to the site of the confrontation, where Lincoln Heights residents lingered, to retrieve a personal vehicle. Advertisement The Evendale Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey called the neo-Nazis 'cowards' in a news conference and pledged to boost patrols in Lincoln Heights and investigate further. Both agencies said that, though the demonstrators engaged in legally protected free speech, officers ordered the demonstrators to leave and prioritized de-escalating a dangerous situation. That wasn't enough for some in Lincoln Heights. 'When we saw that the police wasn't helping us, every able-bodied man in the neighborhood, with or without a gun, has stood guard and has been standing guard ever since,' said Dominic Brewton Jr., who runs a maintenance and repair company in the town. Residents took up arms shortly after the neo-Nazis left, and community leaders formed the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program to organize them, according to Daniels, the group's spokesman. The program coordinates about 70 guards who watch the roads leading into Lincoln Heights and patrol the streets. Members kept watch when Lincoln Heights residents organized a protest last week, and they have flanked organizers who've spoken at community meetings. The group assembled so quickly in Lincoln Heights because of the community's history of self-advocacy, said Carlton Collins, 36. 'In some ways, it's muscle memory for us,' he said. Some have complained about armed men stopping people attempting to enter the village and asking about their intentions, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. A local business owner told the Enquirer that an armed man who claimed to be 'protecting Lincoln Heights' pointed a gun at him when he asked the man to leave a vacant lot he owned. Sheriff McGuffey said last week that she did not support creating a 'neighborhood militia.' Sheriff's office spokesperson Kyla Woods said Wednesday that the department received 911 calls about armed residents but only two documented reports of confrontations. Advertisement 'There have been no charges of the armed residents, who are not breaking any laws by open carrying in Ohio,' Woods said. 'We do not intend to investigate any armed person unless a crime is committed.' Daniels rejected suggestions that the group was a militia or practicing vigilantism. 'The only thing that's happening is that these Americans are protecting their community against Nazis,' he said. Other Lincoln Heights residents echoed support for the guards. Julian Cook, pastor of the Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, said those he encountered were respectful. 'I pass them daily as I head to and fro,' he said. 'And it's important to remember that they have arisen out of a need.' Daniels said the Lincoln Heights guards will continue patrolling their village for the foreseeable future. They feel they are still under threat. On Sunday, residents woke up to discover leaflets with racist language from the Ku Klux Klan strewn in the streets, and a man was cited for littering after being found in possession of the leaflets leaving the town, according to WLWT 5. Dominic Brewton Jr., who has been patrolling with the Safety and Watch Program as an unarmed member, said it was 'a bad thing for everybody' that Lincoln Heights residents had to keep watch over their own streets. 'I would for sure rather rely on the police,' he said. '[This is] out of necessity.'
Washington Post
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Neo-Nazis targeted a majority-Black town. Locals launched an armed watch.
For weeks, men carrying rifles have guarded the roads leading into Lincoln Heights, Ohio, stopping and questioning those who approach the Cincinnati suburb. The men, some of whom wear masks and body armor, are residents of this small, majority-Black town. They say they're protecting their own. And they're on edge. In early February, a truck of neo-Nazis came to Lincoln Heights's doorstep. Masked demonstrators — some carrying rifles — hurled racist slurs and waved flags with red swastikas on a highway overpass leading into town. Two weeks later, on Sunday, another agitator struck, spreading racist pamphlets from the Ku Klux Klan across Lincoln Heights. 'You get punched,' said Alandes Powell, 62, a nonprofit director who lives near the town. 'And someone comes and punches you again.' The people of Lincoln Heights are used to fighting for themselves. The town originated as a self-governing Black community — the oldest north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it proclaims on its website — that lacked public services. For years, residents have complained of underinvestment and neglect. But the past few weeks have been different. Residents say they are distraught after being surrounded by hate and suspicious of police officers whom county officials criticized for not cracking down on the neo-Nazi march. Many of the town's residents are adamant that taking up arms is the only solution, even as some have questioned whether they want their neighbors taking advantage of Ohio's open-carry law to begin an armed watch program. 'An American individual protecting his homeland with a firearm — I thought that was the most American thing that we [could] do,' said Daronce Daniels, a spokesman for the newly formed Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program, which coordinates the guards. Lincoln Heights originated in the 1920s as a Black enclave for laborers blocked from Cincinnati and surrounding towns because of their race, according to the Cincinnati Preservation Association. The new village lacked adequate street lighting and fire and police departments. A nearby city pushed back when Lincoln Heights attempted to incorporate and establish municipal services; by the time it did in 1946, it had lost much of its tax base to neighboring communities. Residents are proud of their history. And they say Lincoln Heights, now a town of about 3,000, continues to be neglected. Its police department was disbanded in 2014; the area is served by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. It took a years-long campaign to get the county to relocate a nearby Cincinnati Police Department gun range that regularly sent the crack of gunshots echoing through the streets. But the community never imagined staring down a neo-Nazi march. Around 2 p.m. on Feb. 7, a U-Haul van brought a group of at least a dozen neo-Nazi demonstrators to a highway overpass near the village border. The agitators wore body armor, carried AR-15 rifles and waved swastika flags. They arrived as children were being let out from class at Lincoln Heights Elementary School and marched just blocks away. 'The way I found out that the Nazis were in my neighborhood was through children,' said DeRonda Calhoun, 45, a teacher who lives in Lincoln Heights. 'They were afraid.' The demonstrators left after a large group of Lincoln Heights residents showed up to counterprotest. But the incident sparked outrage — at the neo-Nazis and at sheriff's officers and the neighboring Evendale police who responded to the march. Residents, joined by Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece, questioned why law enforcement made no citations or arrests during the incident after allegations that the neo-Nazi group had intimidated residents and made racist threats. Evendale police released body-camera footage of an officer appearing to act cordially with the demonstrators after they left the area, advising one man to change his shirt before driving him back to the site of the confrontation, where Lincoln Heights residents lingered, to retrieve a personal vehicle. The Evendale Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey called the neo-Nazis 'cowards' in a news conference and pledged to boost patrols in Lincoln Heights and investigate further. Both agencies said that, though the demonstrators engaged in legally protected free speech, officers ordered the demonstrators to leave and prioritized de-escalating a dangerous situation. That wasn't enough for some in Lincoln Heights. 'When we saw that the police wasn't helping us, every able-bodied man in the neighborhood, with or without a gun, has stood guard and has been standing guard ever since,' said Dominic Brewton Jr., who runs a maintenance and repair company in the town. Residents took up arms shortly after the neo-Nazis left, and community leaders formed the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program to organize them, according to Daniels, the group's spokesman. The program coordinates about 70 guards who watch the roads leading into Lincoln Heights and patrol the streets. Members kept watch when Lincoln Heights residents organized a protest last week, and they have flanked organizers who've spoken at community meetings. The group assembled so quickly in Lincoln Heights because of the community's history of self-advocacy, said Carlton Collins, 36. 'In some ways, it's muscle memory for us,' he said. Some have complained about armed men stopping people attempting to enter the village and asking about their intentions, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. A local business owner told the Enquirer that an armed man who claimed to be 'protecting Lincoln Heights' pointed a gun at him when he asked the man to leave a vacant lot he owned. Sheriff McGuffey said last week that she did not support creating a 'neighborhood militia.' Sheriff's office spokesperson Kyla Woods said Wednesday that the department received 911 calls about armed residents but only two documented reports of confrontations. 'There have been no charges of the armed residents, who are not breaking any laws by open carrying in Ohio,' Woods said. 'We do not intend to investigate any armed person unless a crime is committed.' Daniels rejected suggestions that the group was a militia or practicing vigilantism. He said that reports of some armed men who challenged passersby were about residents not affiliated with the Safety and Watch Program and who acted alone in the days following the neo-Nazi march. The program directs members to report suspicious activity to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, he said. 'The only thing that's happening is that these Americans are protecting their community against Nazis,' he said. Other Lincoln Heights residents echoed support for the guards. Julian Cook, pastor of the Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, said those he encountered were respectful. 'I pass them daily as I head to and fro,' he said. 'And it's important to remember that they have arisen out of a need.' Powell, the nonprofit director, said the town had the right to set up a service for its protection. 'Lincoln Heights is saying, if you're not going to protect us, then we're going to protect ourselves,' she said. As Lincoln Heights battens down, anger over the law enforcement response to the rally continues to simmer. Residents, backed by Mayor Ruby Kinsey, called for residents and other supporters to boycott nearby Evendale's businesses until the town completes an investigation into its police force and fires any officers who aided the demonstrators. The village of Evendale, which set up a dedicated landing page on its website to document its response to the rally, commissioned an independent investigation of its police department last week. Kinsey and Evendale Mayor Richard Finan did not respond to requests for comment. The Hamilton County prosecuting attorney's office is reviewing the neo-Nazi rally to determine whether it will make criminal charges but said it would take time to complete a thorough assessment given the volume of evidence, according to spokesperson Josh Hamblin. Daniels said the Lincoln Heights guards will continue patrolling their village for the foreseeable future. They feel they are still under threat. On Sunday, residents woke up to discover leaflets with racist language from the Ku Klux Klan strewn in the streets, and a man was cited for littering after being found in possession of the leaflets leaving the town, according to WLWT 5. Brewton Jr., who has been patrolling with the Safety and Watch Program as an unarmed member, said it was 'a bad thing for everybody' that Lincoln Heights residents had to keep watch over their own streets. 'I would for sure rather rely on the police,' Brewton Jr. said. '[This is] out of necessity.'
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
Man ticketed for scattering 'hate flyers' in Lincoln Heights, accused of taking peace flag
Two weeks after a white supremacist demonstration in Lincoln Heights, a Kentucky man is accused of throwing "hate flyers" throughout the neighborhood in the middle of night and was found with a peace banner hung by residents nearby. Hamilton County deputies ticketed 47-year-old William Bader, of Kentucky, for littering Sunday after they say he admitted to throwing "hate flyers" from his car across Lincoln Heights about 2 a.m., according to a sheriff's office news release. Deputies also said Bader was found with a homemade flag Lincoln Heights citizens had made with the words "Peace and Love." The flag had been displayed on the I-75 overpass where the Feb. 7 demonstration took place. Members of Lincoln Heights' new armed neighborhood patrol, the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program, were following Bader after he began randomly throwing the flyers from his car, the news release says. They followed him out of Lincoln Heights and into Lockland. Deputies stopped Bader near Mulberry Street and Locust Street, just inside of neighboring Wyoming. A video posted by a witness Sunday shows a deputy confront Bader with the flag in hand, telling him they have video of the flag previously being on the side of the bridge. 🚨 Community Safety in Action! 🚨Early this morning, just after 2:30 AM, the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program (L.H. SAW) demonstrated exactly why community vigilance matters. Working within the law and in collaboration with local law enforcement, L.H. SAW successfully stopped an individual who attempted to steal and burn a flag of peace, an act meant to incite division and same individual was also cited for littering hate speech propaganda across Lincoln Heights, Lockland, and Wyoming—a clear attempt to spread discord. But thanks to the swift response and community-driven action, the situation was handled legally, peacefully, and village will not be a breeding ground for hate. We stand together for peace, unity, and safety. Thank you to L.H. SAW for their dedication and to all who continue to protect and uplift our Legal Violations (Ohio Revised Code)The suspect's actions may constitute several criminal offenses, including:Theft (ORC 2913.02): Knowingly stealing property, in this case, removing and taking a sign without (ORC 3767.32): Illegally dumping materials, including distributing hate propaganda, on public or private with Traffic Control Devices (ORC 4511.17): Destroying or removing a posted sign from a Motor Vehicle (ORC 4511.82): Disposing of materials from a moving car, as seen with the distribution of hate speech Intimidation (ORC 2927.12): Committing an offense motivated by race, color, religion, or national (ORC 2921.13): Knowingly lying to the police about one's appreciate the diligent efforts of L.H. SAW and local law enforcement in ensuring our community remains safe, protected, and free from acts of hate.#LHSaw #CommunityProtection #UnityOverHate #LincolnHeightsStrong Posted by Malik Daronce Daniels on Sunday, February 23, 2025 "The Sheriff's Office does not condone nor agree with hate speech that is proliferated by anyone, including Nazis and the KKK," Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said in a statement Sunday. "The Sheriff's Office remains committed to working with the residents in the Village of Lincoln Heights to ensure their safety." The possibility of future visits from white supremacists targeting the community has been top of mind for many Lincoln Heights residents recently. Fearing retribution after the residents' response earlier this month, some residents have taken their safety into their own hands, forming an armed neighborhood watch. Previous reporting by The Enquirer found the new group has sometimes overstepped its bounds, having stopped people from passing through, approached cars in a fast food drive-thru and even once threatened to shoot a property owner. McGuffey has said she has added extra resources to watch over Lincoln Heights. The community of roughly 3,100 people has contracted with the sheriff's office to patrol the village since it disbanded its police department in 2014 as a cost-cutting measure. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man ticketed for littering 'hate flyers' across Lincoln Heights
