‘I feared for my life,’ Black community member said of neo-Nazi group

A business owner and resident of the first Black city north of the Mason-Dixon Line said he feared for his life when he was approached by an armed member of a neo-Nazi group demonstrating on an overpass on February 7 as he was returning to his fire alarm business in the Village of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, near Cincinnati.

The neo-Nazi group of about 10 members armed with assault rifles targeted the African American community during their demonstration, assembling on the overpass and hanging swastika flags and a large banner proclaiming “America for the White Man” from the overpass railings. 

Soon a number of residents from the village of about 3,000 population came down to the overpass.

Vastly outnumbered by residents shouting “no justice, no peace” and demanding their immediate removal, the Nazis quickly gathered up their White supremacist signs, under police protection, and literally ran to a near-by U-Haul and took off.

Eric Ruffin, who is a resident of Lincoln Heights and has an office there for his business, ABEL Building Systems, said he was blocked on the overpass by law enforcement and other vehicles when he tried to drive across it. He heard the neo-Nazi group shouting the “N word” and other obscenities through an amplified megaphone, and was approached by several men dressed in black from head to feet. 

“This seemed so strange. I could not believe what  was happening,” Ruffin said. “I turned my music up louder than their bullhorn as I tried to get into my music, so I would not be able to hear them and keep my head cool. I did not look at them even as they were standing outside my truck window and calling me the ’N word.’ I was concerned that they would pull me out of my truck. I was ignoring a fool, and the fool got mad. But when I pulled out my pistol, they walked away. A police officer from a neighboring community then walked up and told me to turn my radio down, and eventually I was able to pass on. This was sort of a reverse stand-your-ground situation.”

He commented that while he was stranded on the overpass it seemed like a day had passed, although he was there for only a few minutes. 

“I feared for my life,” he commented.

Ruffin and other residents in the community said the Neo-Nazi group did not belong there, and they have criticized law enforcement officials for not taking immediate action to remove them and de-escalate the confrontations. Ruffin said the officers seemed only interested in protecting the Neo-Nazis.

A day later, the Lincoln Heights residents staged a “rolling” protest of how the situation was handled by law enforcement, as they drove through surrounding communities.

Also, several members of the village’s Safety and Watch patrol, carrying assault rifles and dressed in heavy clothing and wearing face coverings due to the frigid weather, patrolled the community questioning strangers who were driving through. 

Lincoln Heights is the home of internationally recognized poet Nikki Giovanna, who died earlier this year, as well as a number of Cincinnati area leaders and professionals.

Condemnations of this White supremacist provocation were also quickly issued by the Mayor of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati NAACP, the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, the Ohio Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. 

The following day, the administration of Lincoln Heights issued a statement: “Racism is ugly, and it was on display yesterday. This kind of activity has no place in Lincoln Heights or anywhere else. We are proud of the restraint our community showed in response to this demonstration.”

For Mayor Ruby Mumphrey Kinsey, born and raised in Lincoln Heights, it was devastating. “My heart dropped. My life will never be the same. It’s as if the devil knocked on our door,” she said. At the time, she was at work in Northern Kentucky—the only senior manager on duty, calling her boss and trying to find someone to cover her office so she could leave. As she waited, she remained in constant contact with a fellow council member, neighbors and family. 

Ruffin mentioned his father was raised near Philadelphia, Mississippi, and his father taught him not to hate, although he lived there during the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the murder of four young Freedom Riders in Philadelphia, Mississippi.  

Not one of the police officers investigated the situation, according to reports.

Community residents, however, have not remained silent. Two days following the Nazi demonstration, area residents returned to the site of the crime and posted banners proclaiming “Love Wins.” One sign read, “My father fought the Nazis and So Will I.” On Sunday, February 9, more than 300 area residents marched to the overpass, filling the street and stopping traffic, to voice their moral outrage against the violation of human dignity there two days earlier. A community meeting on the following Monday at the Lincoln Heights Municipal Center drew hundreds of concerned residents who demanded to know, among other things, why the Nazis were not identified by the police, let alone not arrested. That evening’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting continued to hear speakers denounce the Nazis and commend the Lincoln Heights community for driving them out. 

A similar Nazi demonstration in Columbus, Ohio, right after the November 5, 2024, election resulted in the same revealing and incriminating silence from law enforcement. 

Hamilton County, Ohio Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey met with residents after the Feb. 7 Nazi demonstration to hear residents voice their concerns about law enforcement showing more concern for protecting the Nazis than for the residents whom they are hired to serve. Sheriff McGuffey promised an investigation.

“I am so proud of my community,’’ Ruffin said. “We are so small and so Black, but don’t come over here playing, for you can find trouble as well as love.”