Neo-Nazi Rally In Ohio Prompts Locals To Form Armed Watch Group

Lincoln Heights resident Julian Cook said it’s important to remember the group is here "out of a need.”

Following an attack by a group of neo-Nazis, a group of locals decided to take matters into their own hands to form an armed watch group in the town of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, The Washington Post reported.

Visitors can see men of the newly formed Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program sporting masks and body armor, protecting the residents of the predominantly Black town outside of Cincinnati as they say residents are on edge following the viral ordeal. In early February 2025, a group of masked racists, some armed, tried to take over the streets of Lincoln Heights.

While hurling racist slurs and waving swastika flags on a highway overpass, the community bravely came to let them know that they are not welcome, as police tried to break things up.

Since the police failed to make any arrests, as Ohio police lieutenant Michael Steers said there was a lack of violated laws, group spokesperson Daronce Daniels said they did “the most American thing that we [could] do” – become “an American individual protecting his homeland with a firearm.”

Lincoln Heights natives and residents are very proud of their historical background, given the fact that in the 1920s, the neighborhood was formatted due to the fact that Black laborers were blocked from settling in Cincinnati and surrounding towns because of their race. With close to 3,000 residents living in the small Ohio town, people claim the town is one of neglect. Without a police department, which was disbanded in 2014, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office serves the community.

It’s reasons such as those that push residents and members of the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch Program to protect their own. “When we saw that the police weren’t helping us, every able-bodied man in the neighborhood, with or without a gun, has stood guard and has been standing guard ever since,” Dominic Brewton Jr., who runs a repair company in the town, said.

However, such safety comes with pushback. Business owners claim the protection group is scaring some residents as they tend to stop traffic, questioning people about their whereabouts in the city. Business owner Jim Meister claims armed men pointed a rifle at him and threatened to shoot when he approached a parked car in a vacant parking lot that he owned, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. When he said he would call the police, group members responded saying, “We are the police. What’s wrong? We’re protecting Lincoln Heights.”

Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said she doesn’t support the “neighborhood militia” as a department spokesperson claims there have been an abundance of 911 calls reporting them. However, Daniels continues to push that the group is nothing more than Americans doing what’s best for their community. “The only thing that’s happening is that these Americans are protecting their community against Nazis,” he said.

Other Lincoln Heights residents like Julian Cook, pastor of the Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, celebrate the movement, reminding law enforcement why they are here to begin with. “I pass them daily as I head to and fro,” Cook said.

“And it’s important to remember that they have arisen out of a need.”