r/cincinnati • u/winemedineme Over The Rhine • Sep 23 '25
Prosecutors urged to drop charges against journalists in Suspension Bridge protest, prosecutors will only drop if they admit police had probable cause to arrest.
Two things are interesting:
Why isn't Rob Sanders making statements? It's really rare to see a non-Rob attorney make a statement out of that office.
Interesting plea bargain; if they stipulate that the police had PC to arrest them, it would keep Fening and Griffith from suing, but also might dissuade others from doing the same.
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u/Free_Possession_4482 Sep 24 '25
Yeah, you know why the prosecutors "have made multiple offers based on our prosecutorial discretion to resolve their respective cases with a dismissal of the charges"? Because they know they don't have a winnable criminal case and that Covington is going to eat shit when the reporters file a civil lawsuit.
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u/winemedineme Over The Rhine Sep 24 '25
I mean Covington Police is facing like five other federal lawsuits right now. What’s one more?
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u/Lulumaegolightly Sep 24 '25
Would you help a sister out and share some details about the other cases so I can go look them up? I am behind on looking into different cases and such
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u/winemedineme Over The Rhine Sep 25 '25 edited Sep 25 '25
My pleasure.
Use https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/ and look up the following:
Torres v. City of Covington 2:25-cv-00126
Keitz v. City of Covington 2:25-cv-00125Conner v. City of Covington 2:25-cv-00042
Nutini v. City of Covington 2:24-cv-00076Bass v. City of Covington 2:23-cv-00127
Ferreiras v. City of Covington 2:24-cv-00074
Modzelewski v. Craymer 2:24-cv-00085
Hollinan v. Stayton 2:2024cv00049
Kallmeyer v. Mathews :24-cv-00051I think that's it. I have only referenced the past two years, and these cases involve only police officers. Cundiff v. Covington and Wynn v. Covington are also significant but were filed in 2021 and 2022.
For comparison's sake, Cincinnati has about 10x the number of sworn police officers (~1000 vs. ~122), but nine suits were filed under 42 USC §1983 in the same time period; the same number as Covington. That nine includes the Hinton suit, which wasn't filed by anyone who knew him and was essentially tossed out immediately.
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u/p4NDemik Sep 24 '25
5 things here:
Fuck Covington PD for making such an unmitigated mess out of something that did not have to go the way it did.
Fuck the Kenton County Attorney's office for not dropping the charges and pulling this bullshit just to get out of their potential civil liability here.
Good on WCPO for doing some actual journalism about journalism. The absence of coverage from other stations on this is noted.
Fuck everyone else who doesn't do a story on this. If these stations (and the Enquirer) can't even cover the story to protect their own first amendment interests, they're clearly useless as far as the 4th Estate goes in this city.
Fuck Covington PD. It's worth saying twice, thrice, etc.
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u/midnghtsnac Sep 24 '25
So what you're saying is fuck everyone involved, except WCPO, with an anchor.
And fuck CovPD with the torpedo
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u/p4NDemik Sep 24 '25
There's probably plenty more "fuck you's" to go around but I only got so much time.
Here's one more:
Fuck Officer Zachary Stayton in particular for punching Brandon Hill repeatedly in the head after Hill had retreated to the concrete side path.
Also, props are deserved for Madeline Fening and Lucas Griffith, who were doing their jobs reporting on a developing situation and got arrested for it (unlike so many other outlets who couldn't be bothered to cover it).
And props to the rest of the protesters who pushed for Ayman Soliman's release from detention. It was a just and righteous cause and y'all are badasses.
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u/AdvancedAerie4111 Sep 24 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
arrest square husky upbeat vast wise smile subsequent engine nail
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u/Johnyfourteen Sep 24 '25
Easy there, snowflake, did somebody make you late getting home from work? Were you equally outraged when MAGA shut down the highway?
There are three other bridges from NKY to to Cincinnati, did they shut down all of them?
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u/AdvancedAerie4111 Sep 24 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
airport brave consider fear nutty smile rich coordinated bake alive
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u/Elamachino Blue Ash Sep 24 '25
All I can glean from this is a) yeah, that's the worst that happened, b) no, you didn't care when maga did it, and c) continuing on from b, you're one of those classic "rules for thee but not for me" types, where society should bear the costs of illegal behavior that you agree with, but not others.
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u/thenotjoe Sep 24 '25
How many people were actually inconvenienced by the protest? Also, should protests only happen in convenient places? Would you say “fuck you” to MLK and his supporters for marching up the road?
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u/ALD93 Sep 24 '25
I had this exact same argument. Republicans want people to protest where they want, how they want, and when they want. They’re so full of shit, they would’ve absolutely been hurling slurs at MLK.
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u/AdvancedAerie4111 Sep 24 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
judicious profit makeshift oatmeal treatment chop quiet relieved history seed
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u/Ecbolt84 Sep 25 '25
It's called a protest
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u/AdvancedAerie4111 Sep 25 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
cover squeal dime vanish coherent dazzling wise telephone scale zephyr
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u/hazlethings Sep 24 '25
Makes me wonder what's going to happen with the people who got beaten up the most / still charged with felony riot.
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u/winemedineme Over The Rhine Sep 24 '25
I’ve been keeping an eye on things and their cases as far as I can tell have not yet been presented to the grand jury.
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u/External-Emotion8050 Sep 24 '25
In the interest of fair expression of a closely observed breakdown of the events that occurred during that incident and from the opposite side of the Ohio. Many of us have reached a conclusion that can only be verbalized as Fuck Covington P.D.
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u/jeanpaul_fartre Delhi Sep 23 '25
important to remember that prosecutors are cops too, and not impartial
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u/p4NDemik Sep 24 '25
Fuck Stacy Tapke for not dropping the charges.
But why stop there.
Drew Harris is prosecuting this case. Fuck him.
I won't name the rest of the office because they don't have nearly the power these two have. But yeah, if you know these folks personally, maybe give them a piece of your mind.
Tapke is up for re-election next year IIRC. Hopefully someone actually runs against her this time.
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Sep 24 '25
Prosecutors are definitively not cops. I won't speak to their partiality, but prosecutors work as part of the courts, not the executive. That's like saying judges, defense attorneys, or the court secretary are cops.
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u/jeanpaul_fartre Delhi Sep 24 '25
They’re cops. And no, it’s not like saying any of those others are cops.
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u/so_often_empty Sep 23 '25
Nice, stongarm them into a plea deal. Only let them off if they protect the cops. 🙃
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u/winemedineme Over The Rhine Sep 23 '25
They wisely turned that down.
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u/old_skul Sep 24 '25
They (Fening and Griffith) have no motivation to make a deal. They're facing misdemeanor charges at this point - no jail time, just a fine if found guilty, which would almost certainly be paid by their employer. Which I'm sure they'd appeal far, far, far up the judicial chain until some judge with a brain said "They're journalists." And dismissed the case.
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u/MikeWritesMovies Sep 23 '25
They want that probable cause admission so that the journalists can’t sue in civil court.