The city of Evendale has released an independent report examining law enforcement’s response to the Feb. 7 neo-Nazi demonstration outside Lincoln Heights.
Independent consulting firm 21CP Solutions released their findings Wednesday, which largely backed up the officers’ handling of the neo-Nazis and counter-protester backlash.
Keep scrolling to read the full report.
During this demonstration last February, the neo-Nazi demonstrators were confronted by a group of Lincoln Heights residents as they rushed into a U-Haul after speaking with police. Police officers on the scene repeatedly told the counter-protesters the neo-Nazis were leaving as they attempted to stop the confrontation from escalating, according to body camera footage. Residents protested in the days following, saying officers were protecting the neo-Nazi demonstrators. But the report from 21CP applauded the officers for “displaying excellent de-escalation skills.”
“Regarding both the situation involving the demonstrators and the approaching crowd on the Vision Way Overpass, as well as the parking lot where the Jeep was located, the police officers present displayed excellent de-escalation skills,” the report reads. “Without threats or harsh words, and without weapons or force, the officers quelled the chaotic situation by ordering the demonstrators to leave and asking, almost pleading with the community to retreat.”
Related
Sheriff and Evendale Police Attempt to Identify Nazis, Salvage Trust After Feb. 7 Rally
The report lists recommendations for advanced training for Evendale officers, including training in protest management and crowd control. The firm made several notes regarding a controversial decision from an Evendale officer to instruct the U-Haul truck full of Nazis to pull into an alleyway along the Lockland Educational Annex after the demonstration. The Lockland Schools Board of Education demanded answers after reviewing security footage from the Lockland Educational Annex that shows the officer speaking to the neo-Nazis on school property.
21CP’s report says the officer didn’t know it was school property at the time.
“The EPD Supervisor’s stated reason for stopping at this location was simply that it was close to the exit, it was available, and it looked like an empty alleyway between a gas station and a church that likely wasn’t having services on a Friday afternoon,” the report reads. “The EPD Supervisor told 21CP that, in his approximately ten years of working in the neighboring jurisdiction of Evendale, he had known that building to be a church and was not aware that it had been renovated and repurposed as a school.”
The report goes on to say the Evendale supervising officer should have notified the Lockland Police Department that he was stopping in their jurisdiction to talk to the neo-Nazi demonstrators.
“This might have offered him some assistance had the follow-up encounter with the demonstrators not been safe – and, more importantly, would have allowed the Lockland officers to realize and react more quickly to the proximity of the school facility,” the report reads. “Stopping at a school to converse with a truck full of armed white supremacists is a mistake, even if good-faith and unintentional, and nothing in this report is intended to take away from that fact. School was set to be dismissed within minutes (at 3:05 PM), and it was mere luck that the demonstrators departed just before the children emerged from the school.”
While there were no arrests during or after the incident, many residents are still demanding harsher repercussions for the Nazi demonstrators. The firm recommended that the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office “review the traffic codes and determine if any demonstrator actions warrant filing charges.”
“The rule of law must prevail, and persons who engage in outrageous but lawful behavior are protected from governmental action or retaliation,” the report reads. “Conversely, persons that engage in outrageous behavior that causes the risks and chaos that ensured on February 7, 2025, deserve to have their actions reviewed and they deserve to be held accountable under the law if any violations are noted.”
In a previous story about the lack of neo–Nazi arrests during the incident in Lincoln Heights, CityBeat spoke with a legal scholar about why arresting Nazis for being Nazis is so difficult in the United States.
“I think, as a general matter, the Supreme Court has been very permissive toward hateful speech that is likely to offend and even to deeply offend the general public or particular communities,” said Ryan Thoreson, assistant professor of constitutional law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. “A lot of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence has been particularly wary of what it calls a hecklers veto, this idea that if an audience strongly disagrees with a message, that they should be able to override the speaker’s right to convey that message, and that applies even when the speech is particularly upsetting to the audience who hears it.”
Related
When Can Police Arrest Nazis for Being Nazis?
Mayor of Lincoln Heights Ruby Kinsey-Mumphrey released a statement today expressing her discontent with the report.
“What is missing from the report – and has been missing all along – is the complete lack of understanding of the impact of the Nazi rally on Lincoln Heights. As a predominantly African-American community, a Nazi rally right on our borders is nothing short of terrifying,” wrote Kinsey-Mumphrey. “I understand that this report only looked at policies and procedures. But what African Americans like me will never understand is why the Nazis were treated with a level of respect and familiarity rarely shown to our community.”
Read the full report from 21CP Solutions below:
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 10, 2025.