The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Armed men in masks are reportedly patrolling the streets of Cincinnati’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood after a neo-Nazi group demonstrated in the area earlier this month.
The armed civilians are reportedly engaging in more than just a standard watch over their neighborhood, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The masked men have stopped cars, turned drivers away from the neighborhood, and have allegedly threatened to shoot a property owner.
They’re reportedly protecting the area from neo-Nazi activists, but their tactics have rattled some residents.
The paper reviewed 911 calls since the February 7 neo-Nazi demonstration at the I-75 overpass near the neighborhood with civilian patrols and found that several callers had reported seeing the armed men, and some had confrontations with the individuals.
Jim Meister, a Lincoln Heights business owner, told the paper that one of the men pointed a rifle at him and threatened to shoot him.
He called police on February 11 after seeing a car parked in an abandoned lot next to his business. Meister approached the car while he was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, and three men allegedly exited the vehicle and confronted him.
When Meister said he was going to call the police, one of the men allegedly said: “We are the police,” and added: “We’re protecting Lincoln Heights.”
Meister and the men reportedly argued over who owned the lot, and one of them allegedly pointed a rifle at him. After police arrived and informed the men that Meister did own the lot, he allowed them to spend the night there, but they eventually set up a tent on the property.
Residents and some critics on social media have criticized the local police after video footage from the February 7 demonstration appears to show them protecting the neo-Nazi group from locals who were trying to drive them away, according to WCPO 9. That’s when residents took to policing their own neighborhood, but have drawn complaints.
One man, Daniel Jacobs, called 911 after he said he was forced to leave the neighborhood after a group of armed men refused to let him drive through.
In another 911 call, an individual dropping his children off at a local school said he saw five armed men standing on a corner, and noted that some of them were stopping people going through a Wendy’s drive-thru and speaking with them.
The Wendy’s manager confirmed that armed men had been approaching customers but did not elaborate further, according to the paper.
A Cincinnati-Enquirer reporter had a run-in with the armed individuals, who reportedly stopped them and asked why they were in the neighborhood. The reporter said they were allowed to pass without incident after showing their media credentials.
Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, whose deputies are assigned to the neighborhood, said she had “no idea” that the armed men were stopping cars, and emphasized that she does not condone their actions.
“Nobody has addressed that with the sheriff’s office. If they do, we will certainly articulate what can and can’t be done in that area. We do not want to create neighborhood militias,” McGuffey said. “We won’t want … that because we understand that it leads back to the tactics of these Neo-Nazis. They want people to do that.”
Jacobs said he has called the sheriff’s office numerous times to complain about the armed individuals, but said he feels like the issue is not being treated seriously.
“I feel as though the police are hoping this will go away by not doing anything with it,” he told the Enquirer.
Jacobs is not the only one who feels that safety concerns are not being taken seriously; during a town hall following the neo-Nazi demonstration, residents said they also felt inadequately protected.
Residents said they were afraid the neo-Nazis would return and seek retribution, and have since begun policing the neighborhood themselves.
Source: independent.co.uk
