A protester involved in a July, 2025 march across the Roebling Suspension Bridge was indicted and briefly detained Monday on felony rioting charges.
Taylor Marshall was taken to the Kenton County Detention Center following a brief hearing Monday morning. Marshall was one of 15 people arrested during the protest against the ICE detention of Egyptian immigrant Imam Ayman Soliman.
The City of Covington issued a statement following the incident saying the protest on the bridge created significant public safety concerns.
Others arrested at the march have since taken plea deals, reducing charges to misdemeanors, or had their charges dropped.
Marshall's attorney Ben Potash said Marshall received a similar offer for a plea deal, but that Kenton County Judge Kenneth L. Easterling set parameters on the deal Marshall couldn't accept.
"He was asking my client to basically recall and allocute to facts that were far more damning than could possibly have happened and would have gotten a lot of people in trouble for things they didn't actually do wrong," Potash said.
WVXU has reached out to the Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney's Office for a statement about the case.
Marshall was arraigned on the felony charges Monday afternoon before Kenton County Judge Kate Molloy. Prosecutors argued the court should preserve Marshall's initial $2,500 bond, which had already been posted. But Potash argued Marshall should be released on their own recognizance and the bond money returned. Molloy ruled in favor of Marshall, who was released from jail later that afternoon.
Marshall filed a lawsuit in Kenton County Circuit Court in July saying Covington Police used excessive force in their response to the march. The suit names Covington Police officer Ross Woodward along with the city and an unnamed officer, saying officers retaliated against them for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The filing says Woodward hit Marshall on the head multiple times, using excessive force and causing a concussion and later memory loss along with other issues. The suit alleges Marshall has missed work and opportunities for employment due to those injuries.
Three other protesters have filed a separate federal lawsuit over allegations of excessive force.
In a news release last November, Covington Police Chief Justin Wietholter defended the department's overall response to the march. The chief said all officers would receive additional training related to de-escalation and responding to unlawful protests.
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