The jubilant prayers, soulful singing and organ-backed testimonials at Thursday evening’s Voices of the Valley meeting in Lincoln Heights could have fooled unaware visitors that the service was a regular church service. The armed men wearing bullet-proof vests walking the back walls and surrounding the building, however, dispelled that idea.

The men were part of the Lincoln Heights Watch, who’ve walked the streets of the village for nearly three weeks after a white supremacist rally just outside of town on Feb. 7. Tonight, they were at the Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church Wednesday to protect the meeting.

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Many of the people in the room were on the overpass three weeks ago as people pushed through a police line to confront the neo-Nazis who escaped in a U-Haul.

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Simultaneously, Pastor Julius Cook reminded the audience a full boycott of Evendale businesses would begin Friday as the town undergoes an independent third-party investigation into police actions around the neo-Nazi rally.

Collins said if the Lincoln Heights Movement could be fully fleshed out, it could serve as a blueprint for how other communities respond to hate movements.

“Cincinnati, we get the opportunity to do what we do best, which is supply chain. This time, it’s just the supply chain of love. The supply chain of community building, support and growth,” he said.

The movement’s first action after Thursday’s meeting will be a clean-up and block party 2-5 p.m. at the old elementary school at 1200 Lindy Ave.

Brown said the timing for the clean-up event corresponded with the exact time the neo-Nazi group rallied three weeks earlier.

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