EVENDALE, Ohio — The identity of the apparent neo-Nazi group that engaged in a demonstration on an I-75 overpass between Lincoln Heights and Evendale is still unknown. But video shared by the Evendale Police Department shows more of the interaction between officers and the neo-Nazi group after being escorted away from the overpass near Lockland Local Schools.
WCPO requested body cam video of the interaction last week between Evendale police officers and the neo-Nazis in Lockland after they left the overpass.
After receiving one batch of body cam footage and requesting any other videos associated with the demonstration, we discovered Tuesday that Evendale police updated a Google Drive folder with additional video following their initial release.
Photos circulating online showed the U-Haul the men left in parked near the Lockland Police Department and the Lockland Local School District Educational Annex building with a cruiser in front of it. Lockland Mayor Mark Mason Sr. said in a release that the officer was not a Lockland officer. Evendale police said it was one of their officers, who was following the group and told them to "leave the area."
In the footage, you see the Evendale officer speak with the masked men, who are loaded into the back of the U-Haul while parked in Lockland. These men ask the police to retrieve a service dog left near the overpass, and one man asks to retrieve his vehicle, described as a black Jeep.
That man takes off his black outfit as to not look like one of the participants. The officer puts him in the back of his vehicle and takes him back to the overpass, seemingly trying to get the car and dog.
This is an extraction from a larger clip that is nearly 50 minutes (NOTE: This video does include profanity):
When the officer returns to the overpass, he tells the other officers he has one of the men in his car and needs to get the black Jeep behind people who remain at the scene. Those officers tell him the Jeep's tires were slashed by people at the scene.
As he walks closer, he tells a deputy and another officer at the scene he's not sure how to get the car out of the area.
"When they see me get in there and drive it, they're gonna be pissed. ... I don't know what to do," the officer said.
The law enforcement officials walk towards the Jeep and ask the residents whose car it is. The residents remark that it has California tags and appear to know it belongs to one of the neo-Nazis.
"F—k that car," one of the residents says. "They better come get it now."
One of the residents tells the officer that the neo-Nazis made a huge mistake coming to this area, and the officer responds, "Bunch of absolute children — losers."
Watch the clip here (NOTE: This video does include profanity):
In a later clip, the officer tells the residents he doesn't know whose car it is, but one resident responds, "You know whose it is."
Evendale police said the driver of the Jeep was taken to the Evendale Police Department by an officer after officials said "it was determined there was no safe way to retrieve the vehicle."
WCPO pressed Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey Tuesday for more information about this group. But she wasn't able to give many answers.
“We do not have any specific intel on that U-Haul as far as where it was rented from. Someone might even own it, I don’t even know. We’re working on that.” McGuffey said. “This is a group of men who are intent or intimidation and hate tactics. By all accounts, it’s a small group and I’m not going to give them any satisfaction by saying they have any larger affiliation with anyone — it’s a bunch of cowards.”
You can view our breakdown of McGuffey's comments here:
The Lockland Local Schools Board of Education is requesting a third-party investigation of both Evendale and Lockland police after the district reviewed and released footage of the neo-Nazis on school property just minutes before dismissal following that interaction with officers.
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