After armed neo-Nazis get police protection, some Black residents in Ohio express disbelief
Some Black leaders and residents in greater Cincinnati expressed dismay after armed, masked neo-Nazis were allowed to gather on a freeway bridge without arrest.
Some Black leaders and residents in greater Cincinnati expressed dismay after armed, masked neo-Nazis were allowed to gather on a freeway bridge without arrest.
Some have called for a quick investigation of the response by Evendale police and Hamilton County sheriff's deputies after the demonstration Friday afternoon on the Interstate 75 overpass between the Village of Evendale and Lincoln Heights, the latter a historically Black community.
The biggest question for critics of the response is why none of the neo-Nazi demonstrators was arrested after the group was confronted by community members, firearms on display on both sides.
The Rev. Julian Armand Cook of Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church said in an interview that the demonstration of hatred, which included swastika-adorned flags, was shocking.
"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 said. "So it was — I was angry. I was hurt. I was shocked."
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