Brandishing assault weapons and fully clad in black garb with face coverings, a small band of Nazis appeared on an overpass across a busy interstate highway in northern Cincinnati shortly before rush hour on Friday afternoon, Feb. 7. They unfurled several flags bearing bright red swastikas and a large banner proclaiming \u201cAmerica for the White Man\u201d. The banner, hung for all motorists to see, displayed the Nazi eagle at one end and a skull (totenkopf<\/i>) at the other.<\/p>\n
News of this vicious racist provocation spread quickly throughout the neighboring Lincoln Heights community, home to thousands of African-American residents. Within minutes a sizable mass of enraged Lincoln Heights residents came to the overpass and defiantly confronted the armed Nazis.<\/p>\n
Vastly outnumbered by outraged residents shouting \u201cno justice, no peace\u201d and demanding their immediate removal, the Nazis quickly gathered up their white supremacist signs, under police protection, and literally ran to a near-by U-Haul and took off.<\/p>\n
No violence, other than repeated use of the N-word by the fascists, ensued; but one swastika flag was grabbed and burned on the spot by angry residents. Bullets spelling out \u201cLH\u2019 were placed in the center of the charred remains.<\/p>\n
After being driven out from the overpass, the Nazis, huddled illegally in their rented U-Haul truck, were escorted by a police cruiser to Lockland, a neighboring African-American community and home to hundreds of recently immigrated refugees from Mauritania. Following the police cruiser, the truck was parked on public school property directly adjacent to the Lockland School District Educational Annex building shortly before its elementary school pupils were dismissed. While there, the armed Nazis engaged in extended conversation with a police officer before eventually leaving. Neither the identity of the police officer nor the Nazis have been publicly released.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere were the arrests?\u201d, asked Lincoln Heights resident Kachara Talbert, \u201cThey just let these people drive off. Y\u2019all going to let these terrorists and racists come over here and do that, disrespect us and our heritage? Who are they [the police] here to protect and serve, because it ain\u2019t us; it ain\u2019t the people\u2026America needs to stand up and stop this madness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Lincoln Heights resident, Syretha Brown, also made a passionate call for unity:<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time to unify. It is time for us to stand for each other. All of this disruption and confusion and all of the things has to subside, and we must join and build together, because if not, nobody is coming to save us.\u201d Ms. Brown may have had the recent Nazi salute by Elon Musk, among other despicable things, in mind.<\/p>\n
The pastor of Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Julian Cook who led a prayer circle following the expulsion of the Nazis, had a message for the fascists: \u201cYou will not win. You may try, but we have a history of being able to push past these things, as difficult as it may be. You will not win.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Ohio Peace Council sharply denounced this fascist action in Cincinnati. \u201cAs someone who was born in the rubble that was Germany after the Nazis got through with it, I know what utter evil lurks behind the swastika\u201d said Werner Lange, Chair of the OPC, \u201cSome 50 million lives were consumed during WWII started by the Nazis. Among the war casualties were over 250,000 American soldiers killed by the Nazis. To have this Nazi symbol of genocide and terror, the swastika, publicly displayed and proudly embraced in America is an outrageous desecration of their ultimate sacrifice defending America from fascism. Those responsible for this public praise of Nazism should be charged with treason and a crime against humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n Condemnations of this white supremacist provocation were also quickly issued by the Mayor of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati NAACP, the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, the Ohio Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. The following day, the administration of Lincoln Heights stated that \u201cRacism is ugly, and it was on display yesterday. This kind of activity has no place in Lincoln Heights or anywhere else. We are proud of the restraint our community showed in response to this demonstration.\u201d<\/p>\n The condemnations included calls for unity against fascism. The Executive Director of CAIR Ohio stated that \u201cAll community leaders and public officials must take a stand against this growing movement of division and hatred nationwide\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>Similarly, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati declared that \u201cHate has no place in Cincinnati or anywhere else in our society\u201d, a declaration echoed by the Cincinnati Mayor who stated that \u201cThis [fascism] is not what we stand for, and it will never be what we stand for; messages of hate like this have on place in our region.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The Cincinnati NAACP also explicitly criticized the Trump administration for creating a political climate conducive to such fascist demonstrations: \u201cThe current executive orders and actions [from Trump] have angered many and emboldened others. This is not normal and should not be accepted as such. We are stronger together and we are calling on all to unify against this behavior\u201d. Nevertheless, condemnation of this embrace and public display of Nazi symbolism next to an African-American community was not universal. To date, a roaring silence regarding this blatant racist provocation has come from Republican legislators, including the Ohio Governor, Ohio\u2019s two Senators and the Ohio Congressman representing this area. A similar Nazi demonstration in Columbus right after the November 2024 election resulted in the same revealing and incriminating silence.<\/p>\n Community residents, however, have not remained silent. The day following the Nazi demonstration, area residents returned to the site of the crime and posted banners proclaiming \u201cLove Wins\u201d; one sign read \u201cMy father fought the Nazis and So Will I\u201d. On Sunday, February 9, over 300 area residents marched to the overpass, filling the street and stopping traffic, to voice their moral outrage against the violation of human dignity there two days earlier. A community meeting on the following Monday at the Lincoln Heights Municipal Center drew hundreds of concerned residents who demanded to know, among other things, why the Nazis were not identified by the police, let alone not arrested. That evening\u2019s regularly scheduled City Council meeting continued to hear speakers denounce the Nazis and commend the Lincoln Heights community for driving them out. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Lincoln Heights, incorporated in 1946, prides itself in being the first African-American self-governing community north of the Mason-Dixon Line. It was also the childhood home of the recently deceased famous progressive poet Nikki Giovanni, who in her poem \u201cBrother, Brother, Brother\u201d wrote lovingly of her life in Lincoln Heights. Expressive of her values and the community which helped shape her vision and voice is \u201cThe Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr\u201d:<\/p>\n His headstone said<\/i><\/p>\n FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST<\/i><\/p>\n But death is a slave\u2019s freedom<\/i><\/p>\n We seek the freedom of free men<\/i><\/p>\n And the construction of a world<\/i><\/p>\n Where Martin Luther King could have lived<\/i><\/p>\n And preached non-violence<\/i><\/p>\n The spirit of Nikki Giovanni was certainly present in the mass protests against this racist provocation in her hometown; and it will continue to be until the construction of a world freed from fascism and racism is achieved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brandishing assault weapons and fully clad in black garb with face coverings, a small band of Nazis appeared on an overpass across a busy interstate highway in northern Cincinnati shortly before rush hour on Friday afternoon, Feb. 7. 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\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n