The Evendale Police Department Tuesday released body camera footage of officers' response to a Feb. 7 neo-Nazi demonstration and counter-protest on the Vision Way overpass near Lincoln Heights.
The 16 hours of footage shows Evendale officers and Hamilton County Sheriff deputies pull up to the scene where roughly a dozen members of the hate group were waving swastika flags and brandishing assault rifles. It also captures the angry response from Lincoln Heights residents and discussions between officers about how to diffuse the tense situation.
"Get in and go. Get in and go," an Evendale officer tells the Nazis as the crowd of counter-protesters gathers.
"Who did this?" a counter-protester asks at one point.
"A bunch of losers," an officer responds.
Lincoln Heights residents and others have criticized the response from law enforcement, saying officers were too permissive with the Nazis and should have arrested or cited them.
Evendale Police also have drawn scrutiny for efforts to help one of the members of the hate group retrieve a Jeep left at the scene.
The bodycam footage records an Evendale officer pulling into an alleyway next to Lockland Elementary school followed by the neo-Nazi's U-Haul immediately after the demonstration.
The officer gets out and speaks to the Nazis, including the owner of a black Jeep left on the scene. The member of the hate group says he left his service dog in the vehicle and wants to go get it.
The officer offers to drive the Jeep back if the dog won't bite him.
"Take that black sweatshirt off and you can get in my car," the officer says.
"Cool, thank you brother, God bless you dude," the Nazi says.
"Are you guys done? There's no other..." the officer trails off.
"No, we're done for the day," another member of the hate group says. "We're just trying to get the dog and the Jeep and then we're out."
Lockland Local Schools released security footage and a statement critical of the neo-Nazis seemingly following the officer to the school and the fact the school wasn't alerted to the armed hate group being near its property just a few minutes before students were dismissed.
The body camera footage shows the officer returning to the protest scene with the neo-Nazi. But a number of counter-protesters are still there.
"I've got the owner of the Jeep in my car right now," the Evendale officer tells Hamilton County Sheriff's Lt. Michael Steers.
"He's going to have to wait," Steers replies.
"What if we try to drive it out?" another Evendale officer asks.
"It's worth a shot," Steers replies.
But by that point, counter-protesters had already slashed the vehicle's tires. The Evendale officer goes back to his cruiser to explain the situation to the neo-Nazi.
The officer has been ordered to take the neo-Nazi to Evendale Police headquarters, he explains. It's not safe to take him back to the Jeep right away.
"Can you guys not bear-mace that crowd?" the neo-Nazi asks. "Like, get back, he needs to get his stuff."
The neo-Nazi then tells the officer his belongings, including his phone, are in the Jeep and he can't contact the other members of the hate group without it. He mentions he's from Tennessee and other members are from other places.
"We will get the dog and the property in the Jeep you need," the officer tells him. "It just can't be right this second... if I pulled you up there to let you get in this Jeep, there would be a massive shootout."
The neo-Nazi asks again if officers can pepper spray the counter-protesters and call in the SWAT team.
"So you don't know one person's number in that van?" the officer asks.
"Zero," the neo-Nazi replies. "Absolutely zero. We're all from all over the place. I don't even know their real names. I just know their handle names."
The neo-Nazi tells the officer they're staying in a hotel outside Louisville and explains the hate group got two vehicles to travel through Kentucky because they knew it was illegal to ride in the back of a U-Haul in that state.
Evendale has pushed back on suggestions its officers aided the hate group in any way.
"Our community is strong and united," Evendale said in a statement as it released the footage. "We refuse to allow the actions of a cowardly group of racists define who we are. We will continue to post information here about February 7 and are committed to providing space to address the concerns people have, while strengthening the connections within our communities, and standing united for dignity, respect, and condemnation of hate in all forms."
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