Three more protestors who were arrested on the Roebling Bridge last year have filed lawsuits against the city of Covington and Covington police officers.
Logan Imber, Suzanne Bratt and Taylor Marshall are all alleging excessive force and the violation of their constitutional rights by Covington officers. Their suits now join that of Brandon Hill, who filed a similar lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday. Imber, Marshall and Bratt all filed their suits on Friday.
Marshall’s lawsuit is the only one filed in local court, specifically the Kenton County Circuit Court. His complaint names Covington Police Officer Ross Woodward, an unknown female officer and the city as defendants.
Marshall claims to have suffered a concussion at the hands of Woodward, which led to “serious memory loss and aphasia,” which is a deterioration in speech ability. Notably, Marshall’s complaint alleges that “at no point did Plaintiff Marshall resist arrest,” but Woodward allegedly acted aggressively anyway.
“Video evidence shows that police, not the protesters, were rioting; they assaulted numerous protestors,” Marshall’s complaint reads.
Marshall is represented by Louisville-based lawyer Benjamin Potash.
Bratt is also suing Woodward but in federal court, specifically the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky.
Bratt argues she suffered heavy bruising to her arms and back, as well as injuries to her knees and elbows after Woodward threw her onto the metal grating of the bridge.
“The day after the Incident, Suzanne’s physician documented swelling and tenderness in her right arm, right elbow, bilateral wrists, thoracic back and left knee ecchymosis and pinpoint tenderness over her ribs, consistent with the force described in this Complaint,” reads Bratt’s complaint. Bratt also argues that her experience lead to a diagnosis of PTSD.
She’s represented by Cincinnati-based attorney Justin Whittaker.
Finally, Imber’s complaint names Covington police officers Mandie Appleman, Kenzy Hotaling and Zachary Stayton (who is also named in Hill’s lawsuit) and the city as defendants. She is also represented by Whittaker.
Imber’s complaint describes how she had “emphatically objected” to Stayton’s use of punches against Hill. Body cam footage corroborates this. Imber was tased multiple times before five officers pinned her to the ground. After this, the complaint alleges, Stayton punched her in the head once, grabbed her hair, pressed her face into the sidewalk and told her to “shut the f*** up.” Stayton admits to delivering the punch in his use of force report “in an attempt to gain compliance.”
All of the recent lawsuits level Monell claims against Covington. Monell claims argue that allegedly unconstitutional behavior by a single officer reflects broader practices within an agency or jurisdiction as a whole, in this case the city, thereby making the entire agency responsible.
Fifteen people were arrested on the bridge last year. The arrests were preceded by a vigil in Cincinnati put on by inter-faith group Ignite for Peace for former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Chaplain Ayman Soliman, who at the time was being detained in Butler County Jail following the revocation of his asylum status. A portion of the vigil had split off from the main locale at The Banks in Cincinnati and attempted to walk across the bridge, where they encountered police.
Many of the protesters took plea deals in exchange for having their initial felony rioting charges dismissed, but Marshall and Imber were among the four who had the probable cause for rioting upheld. Marshall’s complaint states that he finally took a plea deal on Thursday of last week to accept a lower charge of failure to disperse.
Court records indicate Imber also recently plead down to a misdemeanor charge. She was arraigned for her misdemeanor on Wednesday.
Bratt, on the other hand, was among those who had her rioting charges dropped, but she decided to take her misdemeanor charge of failure to disperse to trial. A jury found her guilty in February after a roughly six-hour trial.
“The events that occurred on the Roebling Bridge in July 2025 posed serious public safety concerns,” the city said in a written statement. “The City remains committed to ensuring Covington is a safe place for all residents and visitors. Because both the criminal case and the civil litigation remain pending, the City has no further comment at this time.”
You can view and download the complaints below.
