No members of a neo-Nazi group that rallied on a highway overpass between Evendale and Lincoln Heights Feb. 7 will face criminal charges locally.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich calls the rally "reprehensible," but says the group's hate speech is covered by the First Amendment, and none of the member's conduct was prosecutable. She outlines her findings in a report released Thursday.
"In a twist of irony, it is our country's legal framework protecting diversity of views that allows these hateful neo-Nazis to have a presence," it reads.
Pillich's office considered whether charges were possible for disorderly conduct, inducing panic, rioting, ethnic intimidation, criminal damaging, violating anti-mask laws, advertising on a public highway, riding in a cargo storage area, protesting without a permit, and unlawful congregation on sidewalks or public grounds.
"There were just such a variety," Pillich told reporters. "We looked at all of these. And not only did we look at the exact letter of the law, but we looked at how that law has been applied in previous cases. That's how we came up with the contents of the report."
None of the laws were applicable under the circumstances, according to the prosecutor, but she said disorderly conduct was "a close call" because of some "extremely offensive" racial epithets the hate group directed at a Black driver during the rally. That driver had a pistol in his hand at the time but did not point it at the Nazis.
Ethnic intimidation and anti-mask law violations require other offenses to have been committed, and the prosecutors office said none were apparent.
There is no evidence the neo-Nazis damaged anything, the prosecutor's office said, nor did they riot or induce panic.
The overpass on which the neo-Nazis rallied was within Evendale's jurisdiction, and as such is not covered by the law against advertising on a public highway.
The neo-Nazis were not required to get a permit for their rally because they congregated on the sidewalk and did not significantly obstruct traffic, the report says, and they moved on when asked to do so.
The driver of a U-Haul the group used might have been charged with allowing the rest of the hate group to ride in the back of the vehicle, but law enforcement ordered them to get into the truck and leave quickly, so it's unclear if a charge would have stuck.
The prosecutor's office said it only considered evidence presented by the Evendale Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. That includes body camera footage and other material the offices collected. The report isn't meant to suggest or critique specific policing techniques, Pillich said.
The prosecutor said her office was not able to bring charges over the neo-Nazis carrying guns near school grounds. That happened when an Evendale officer diverted their U-Haul to the curb outside a school in neighboring Lockland. Pillich said her office didn't look into charges because the U-Haul was directed to the location by an Evendale officer.
The Village of Evendale unveiled a report it commissioned on the incident from national law enforcement consultancy firm 21CP last month. The report had a few minor critiques of the police department's response to the hate group, but overall praised the way the situation was handled. That didn't sit well with many in Lincoln Heights, who feel the neo-Nazis were treated with deference and were not policed as strictly as they could have been.
Pillich acknowledged the findings wouldn't be satisfying to everyone. But she said her office had to stick to the facts and the law.
"Our job is to take the facts as they are given to us and to look at the criminal law book and find out what sticks," she said. "But we could find new evidence. Perhaps we'll find out who these people are. Perhaps we'll get some evidence from surveillance video we didn't encounter before."
READ MORE: