EVENDALE, Ohio — Both the Evendale Police Department and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office have recommendations for change in the results of an independent investigation into law enforcement's handling of a neo-Nazi demonstration in February.
The Evendale Police Department hired 21CP Solutions, a consulting firm led by former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. The team's goal was "to both review police actions and provide insights and recommendations on best practice law enforcement in today's ever-changing political and social landscape."
The decision to hire 21CP Solutions for an independent review is the result of recent resident mistrust in law enforcement in the Evendale and Lincoln Heights areas in the weeks following the Feb. 7 neo-Nazi presence on a highway overpass near both communities.
During a Wednesday press conference to report and discuss the investigation's findings, that mistrust was apparent as community members from Lincoln Heights expressed continued frustration.
Voices and tensions were raised as Lincoln Heights residents asked questions about the report, including about whether charges will be pursued against the neo-Nazi group.
One man in attendance asked whether 21CP Solutions' report would be given to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office to review, since it does contain information about possible legal violations that may have happened. He also questioned whether there should have been more legal action recommended by the report.
"If I'm filing a report against myself, and I'm saying that the people who are required to enforce the laws are not fully enforcing the law, because they're not laws they should be enforcing, there's a conflict there," said one man in attendance.
"The conflict is between the laws that are in place and the laws we wish were in place," said Chris Patterson, an Evendale councilmember, in response.
Patterson said the most important things that Evendale can change to make a difference were included in the report, and Evendale is committed to working through those recommended changes.
"Are racist people hiding behind a badge, this is important to us," said one woman in attendance.
You can hear more from her and about the report in the video below:
Another person could be heard chiming in about the safety issues surrounding the neo-Nazi UHaul parking in a school zone, while many of them were armed.
"I just don't understand. Say what it is, we need to know that any police man that has a badge, that they are not a white supremacist," said the same woman. "We need to know that we are protected and we won't be retaliated against or shot dead because of the police hiding behind a badge."
As the woman spoke, a police officer began to approach her.
"I'll leave, I'll leave," she said. "Because I know that's what the problem is, you see what I'm saying. All I'm trying to say is, will we be protected?"
She left the room willingly, though the officer did walk out with her. The press conference was abruptly ended after that.
You can watch the full press conference below:
Village of Lincoln Heights Mayor Ruby Kinsey-Mumphrey said the community still has concerns and unanswered questions.
"I understand that this report only looked at policies and procedures," reads a statement from Kinsey-Mumphrey. "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. Why were the Nazis not asked to identify themselves, when the first thing an African American must do in a traffic stop is provide identification? Why were the Nazis not asked to remove their masks? Why is the Hamilton County Sheriff and Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office waiting to investigate the Nazi rally until after Evendale issued its report? Does that mean we have to wait another six months to hear from the county?"
She also said that there's still a disconnect between Evendale and the Village of Lincoln Heights, because Lincoln Heights residents do not feel understood, or like their experience during the rally has been fully recognized.
WATCH: Some Lincoln Heights residents still feel ignored despite 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," says Kinsey-Mumphrey. "As a predominantly African-American community, a Nazi rally right on our borders is nothing short of terrifying. This is a group that has not only threatened to harm African Americans but have all too often made good on those threats."
Evendale officials said during Wednesday's press conference that they are committed to working on rebuilding a relationship between Evendale and Lincoln Heights. Evendale Mayor Richard Finan said they're working on ensuring Evendale enters a new era of accountability and community engagement.
"This isn't the end of a terrible situation, it's the beginning of a rebuilding process," said Finan.
Since Feb. 7, Evendale has also hired Attorney Lou Sirkin, best known for his high-profile clients, such as Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and Jerry Springer, who resigned from city council in 1974 after a prostitution scandal and later became Cincinnati’s mayor.
He's been hired to take a closer look at ordinances in Evendale to ensure they are up to date, clear and consistent with state and federal law. He may recommend the village update its rules on permitting for protests if they are old and don’t work in practice.
Results of the 21CP Solutions report:
The full report from 21CP Solutions is roughly 39 pages long.
It covers the entirety of events spanning the full day of Feb. 7 and events that took place in days following the demonstration. The investigation looked at body camera footage from Evendale officers and from Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies who responded to three separate scenes that arose during and after the demonstration.
Investigators also interviewed many officers and community members involved, evaluated local news reports and took into consideration the limitations of Ohio law and local laws.
Notably, 21CP Solutions wrote in its report that the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office declined to participate in the investigation or have its deputies interviewed for the report.
We reached out to the sheriff's office to learn why.
"The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office offered to have a designated liasion to work with 21CP to answer any questions they had about our response or our deputies' actions and they did not respond," reads a statement from HCSO.
The report does suggest there's the potential to file minor charges against the the neo-Nazis involved in the demonstration that day. While the report found there were no laws broken by the demonstration in regards to hate speech, First Amendment protest rights or carrying firearms, it did find that attaching flags or banners to public highway infrastructure could have violated the Ohio Revised Code.
The report says there were no violations of Ohio law in regards to the UHaul, or the men riding in the back of it; the report highlights two portions of the Ohio Revised Code that "appear to be relevant to passengers riding in the back of a truck," neither of which seem relevant to the neo-Nazis.
However, there is also a current report filed by one of the neo-Nazis against members of the community who appeared to chase them off that day.
On February 14, two men returned to the Evendale Police Department to make a theft report "regarding the flag that had been taken by the crowd" that day. That flag was later burned, social media videos showed.
Whether any charges at all will be fully filed against either the neo-Nazi group or against community members involved in the theft report are up to Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich.
"My staff has been reviewing the videos from the incident and we have now been forwarded the third-party assessment," reads a statement from Pillich. "We'll finish up the work and aim to have a thorough review completed by mid-June."
The report recommends eight changes be made in the region by law enforcement agencies:
- All Evendale police officers should undergo available OPOTA training in protest management and crowd control. Additionally, some members of the Evendale Police Department are members of the Hamilton County Police Associations Mobile Field Force team and SWAT team. Both of these teams receive ongoing specialized training in protest management and crowd control, therefore Evendale should designate these officers as internal trainers to share their knowledge and understanding of these important police activities.
- All Evendale police officers should undergo available OPOTA training as well as available specialized training in the constitutional issues police officers face in performing their duty. In this instance, the Evendale officers did perform well in recognizing and understanding the constitutional rights of all parties involved, but in interviews the officers stated they had not had any specialized training in these important topics other than the few listed above.
- The Evendale Police Department should draft and enforce a policy requiring members to be trained and tested on new equipment before it is permitted for use in the field. The confusion around the operation of the new BWCs fortunately did not hamper the recording of important portions of the incident, but the lack of understanding of the equipment caused some embarrassment and public criticism that could be avoided by better preparation in the future.
- The Evendale Police Department should amend their Body Worn Camera policy to forbid any item from being placed as an obstruction to the BWC’s view while recording is taking place. In this instance, a seatbelt obscured potentially important portions of the events that occurred. This policy revision should address seatbelts, clothing, and any other item that may obstruct the BWC. 21CP is not advocating the disuse of the seatbelt, but rather a placement of the camera so it is not obstructed while the seatbelt is worn.
- The Evendale Police Department should initiate a practice, governed by policy, of routine training refreshers on both agency policy as well as other key law enforcement topics, to ensure its members remain up-to-date and aware of critical issues that may arise. Although no notable policy violations were observed in this incident, the supervisors 21CP spoke with indicated they knew of the existence of policies but had not reviewed them recently and were generally unaware of what they contained.
- The Evendale Police Department should draft and enforce a policy requiring officers to notify neighboring jurisdictions any time an Evendale officer will take action or attend to an official law enforcement matter in a jurisdiction outside the Village of Evendale. Incorporating such a practice will enhance safety for the Evendale officers as well as provide immediate notification to the affected jurisdiction, thus enabling them to assist or intervene as necessary.
- The Hamilton County Emergency Communications Center, in concert with the Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, should consider developing and implementing a notification protocol for all schools in Hamilton County to be made aware of dangerous situations occurring that may present elevated risks for school populations. Such a notification protocol would empower school officials to make timely decisions regarding canceling classes, delaying dismissal times, rerouting of school buses, or other adjustments that would benefit school children in the area.
- The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office should review all conduct by the demonstrators while they were in Hamilton County, Ohio. Their conduct caused great upset as well as discord amongst and between communities. The rule of law must prevail, and persons who engage in outrageous but lawful behavior are protected from governmental action or retaliation. 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.
You can read the full report below:
Full 21CP Solutions Report by webeditors on Scribd
On Feb. 7, roughly a dozen neo-Nazi demonstrators appeared on the Vision Way overpass connecting Evendale and the Village of Lincoln Heights.
They could be seen on traffic cameras displaying around six black flags with a bright red swastika in the middle. They were also dressed in all black clothing, including black balaclavas and red face masks.
Many of them were also openly carrying rifles.
The group also had a banner displayed on the overpass with white supremacy messaging on it. Also on the banner were symbols the Anti-Defamation League says are often used by white supremacist groups and the Nazi party.
Mayor Aftab Pureval issued a statement on social media, saying the display was shocking and disgusting.
"Messages of hate like this have no place in our region," wrote Pureval. "It was shocking and disgusting to see swastikas displayed in Evendale today. This is not what we stand for, and it will never be what we stand for."
Hamilton County sheriff's deputies also responded to the scene. In a statement, Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said they were also working to de-escalate the situation.
"There was an incident earlier today involving men representing a hate group, who positioned themselves on an overpass near the Village of Lincoln Heights. ... Lincoln Heights residents are understandably upset. We continue to work with the community, and emphasize that there is no place for hate in Hamilton County. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office will continue to collaborate with surrounding agencies and the residents of Lincoln Heights," she said, in part.
On traffic cameras, officers could be seen blocking traffic on the overpass.
Shortly before 3 p.m., the people waving the flags began packing their items into a UHaul parked nearby. As they did this, a large group of people — roughly 20 or more — broke through the police barricades and rushed at the group with the flags.
Photos and videos show community members grabbed ahold of one of the flags and later burned it.
Evendale Police has released hours of body camera footage showing multiple interactions between law enforcement and the neo-Nazi group who appeared that day.
Those interactions did not end after the neo-Nazi group left the overpass in their U-Haul.
Body camera footage shows that U-Haul
parked near the Lockland Police Department and the Lockland Local School District Educational Annex building with a cruiser in front of it. Lockland Mayor Mark Mason Sr. said in a release that the officer was not a Lockland officer. Evendale police said it was one of their officers, who was following the group and told them to "leave the area."
In the footage, you see the Evendale officer speak with the masked men, who are loaded into the back of the U-Haul while parked in Lockland. These men ask the police to retrieve a service dog left near the overpass, and one man asks to retrieve his vehicle, described as a black Jeep.
That man takes off his black outfit as to not look like one of the participants. The officer puts him in the back of his vehicle and takes him back to the overpass, seemingly trying to get the car and dog.
When the officer returns to the overpass, he tells the other officers he has one of the men in his car and needs to get the black Jeep behind people who remain at the scene. Those officers tell him the Jeep's tires were slashed by people at the scene.
One of the residents tells the officer that the neo-Nazis made a huge mistake coming to this area, and the officer responds, "Bunch of absolute children — losers."
In a later clip, the officer tells the residents he doesn't know whose car it is, but one resident responds, "You know whose it is."
Evendale police said the driver of the Jeep was taken to the Evendale Police Department by an officer after officials said "it was determined there was no safe way to retrieve the vehicle."
