LINCOLN HEIGHTS, Ohio — Nearly every morning for the last month, Jay has been waking up before sunrise to drive around the streets of Lincoln Heights, patrolling neighborhood bus stops to make sure children are getting to school safely.
“We have a very tight community, so all of our kids, they know us,” he said.
But for anyone outside the community, Jay’s presence might be a mystery. He wears a face covering along with tactical vests, and Jay is not his real name, which he asked not to use to prevent harassment from hate groups.
He is a member of the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch program, which began shortly after February 7, when a neo-Nazi group waving swastika flags and shouting racial slurs demonstrated on a highway overpass on the outskirts of this majority-Black community about 30 minutes north of Cincinnati.
Officers from Evendale, which borders Lincoln Heights, and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office responded that day.
According to the mayor’s office, no arrests were made, and Evendale police officers did not obtain any names or identifying information from neo-Nazi members. The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating the incident to determine whether criminal charges can be filed.
Evendale Mayor Richard Finan said in a statement that officers’ emphasis on de-escalation resulted in the incident being resolved without injuries to any of the people involved, passersby, or law enforcement officers.
During this evolving scene, protecting life took precedence over immediate identification.” The Evendale Police Department was the first to respond to the incident, which occurred on a bridge connecting Evendale and Lincoln Heights.
But for Daronce Daniels, the safety and watch group’s spokesperson, the police response was just as alarming as the neo-Nazi appearance, making residents feel they wouldn’t be protected if another hate group were to visit their town.
“They’ve been very clear that if it happens again, they’ll allow it to happen again, that their hands are tied,” Daniels said.
Lincoln Heights residents said the police response to the incident was insufficient, prompting Daniels and other members of the Heights Movement, an existing community empowerment organization, to devise the safety and watch program, which includes armed volunteers wearing tactical gear and face coverings.
Some of the same volunteers who helped mentor youth through the Heights Movement are now going on armed patrols. Ohio state law allows anyone legally allowed to own a gun to open carry without a permit.
“I have never felt safer as a Black man in my community than I have right now,” Daniels told the crowd. “These are my friends.” “These are my cousins, brothers, sisters, and aunties.”
The neo-Nazi group approached local business owner Eric Ruffin in his car on his way home from a work meeting.
He said he supports law enforcement, but the way it handled the February 7 demonstration makes him skeptical that it will protect him in the future. As a result, he says he is proud of the neighborhood safety and watch program, even if he wishes it were not necessary.
“What I do not understand is how I can be standing here in America in 2025 and somebody can walk up to my window with a swastika and have guns and call me the N-word and law enforcement watch,” Ruffin complained.
“We do not want to become what we despised. We do not want to become a group of people who feel compelled to protect themselves in America. “That is what the Nazis want.”
The village of Lincoln Heights was founded in 1923 for Black families fleeing the South, and it incorporated in 1946 as the “first African American self-governing community north of the Mason-Dixon Line,” according to the town website.
However, residents claim the community has been underserved by local municipalities, and its police department was disbanded in 2014, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, leaving it under the jurisdiction of the Hamilton County Sheriff.
For many safety and watch volunteers, history influences their decision to add to their daily responsibilities as parents and employees.
“This is something that our grandfathers and great-grandmothers started. So we are going to make sure that history is preserved,” said one volunteer, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation from hate groups.
Yard signs reading “We Support Lincoln Heights Safety & Watch” can be found all over town, and community members were seen waving to safety and watch volunteers as they stood guard near the local elementary school on Tuesday morning.
Chantelle Phillips said she saw the neo-Nazi rally unfold on social media as it happened. She believes the neighborhood protection group will be more proactive than officers from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, whose jurisdiction includes Lincoln Heights.
“I feel more secure now,” Phillips said. “I know my son can walk home and be OK.”
Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey is now urging the Ohio State Legislature to pass legislation making it illegal to wear a mask “for the purpose of intimidation” while open carrying. She claimed that this measure would have given her officers more leeway to make arrests during the neo-Nazi rally.
In an interview with NBC News, she defended her officers’ response on Feb. 7, but acknowledged that Lincoln Heights residents are concerned about their safety. Still, she is concerned that an armed confrontation between neighborhood residents and another hate group could result in a dangerous situation.
“They feel they need to arm their residents, and they are allowed to,” she said. “At some point, we will most likely encounter a highly dangerous situation that we are trained to handle. However, it is unknown who else is armed.
How many juveniles are standing around with guns in their hands? I cannot emphasize enough how this issue, and the way people are reacting and acting with guns and open carry, is directly related to the inaction of legislators who claim to support law enforcement, families, and order, but do not.
