Update: Since the initial publication of this story, LINK nky has learned that one of the trial dates has been rescheduled. We’ve updated to the story to reflect the new information.–LINK nky editorial, Sept. 29, 2025.
One journalist from Cincinnati CityBeat, Lucas Griffith, will stand trial in Kenton County District Court this week for charges related to an encounter between police and protestors on the Roebling Bridge in July. His trial will begin on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
Another journalist with CityBeat, Madeline Fening, was originally scheduled to stand trial on Tuesday, also at 8:30 a.m., but her attorneys asked for a continuance at a hearing Monday morning, which the court granted. According to the court clerk’s office, her trial has been rescheduled to Jan. 13, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
Fening, Griffith and 13 others were arrested after a chaotic clash with the police on the bridge, which took place after a group of protesters in Cincinnati branched off from a vigil for former Cincinnati Children’s chaplain Ayman Soliman, whom ICE detained following the revocation of his asylum status. Soliman was recently released from the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio.
The journalists and several of the demonstrators on the bridge had their felony rioting charges dropped, but their lower charges were upheld at a hearing in late July. Three of the demonstrators, Ameer Alkayali, Logan Imber and Brandon Hill, had the probable cause for their rioting charges upheld.
Their cases were sent to the grand jury, which will determine if they should stand trial. As of Monday, that has not yet been determined, although Imber had a motion hearing in August.
Griffith and Fening have had several hearings before Judge Kenneth Easterling since July. The court has dismissed charges of unlawful assembly and resisting arrest against Griffith. The court has also dismissed a charge of unlawful assembly against Fening, according to court documents.
This leaves the reporters with misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse, obstructing a highway, obstructing emergency responders and disorderly conduct.
The journalists’ attorneys also made motions to prevent prosecutors from employing certain tactics during the trials, which were granted, according to court documents, as well as motions to preserve evidence and begin discovery. The journalists had another preliminary hearing on Monday morning, the day before the trial. LINK nky will update this story once we know more the results of that hearing.
A group of journalism professors from the University of Cincinnati and several advocacy groups released an open letter on Sept. 17 urging prosecutors to drop the charges. Prosecutors previously made an offer to dismiss the charges if they admitted the police had probable cause to arrest them, but the journalists declined to take this offer.
“Lucas Griffith is one of the best student journalists on this campus,” UC Journalism Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, Alfred J. Cotton III, wrote in the letter. “He’s a former student of mine, and I believe wholeheartedly in his integrity and dedication to pursuing the truth. I stand with the call to drop the charges against him and Madeline Fening.”
The clash between the police and demonstrators on the bridge has been the subject of contention among community members. Nick Swartsell, a reporter with WVXU, was on the scene and recorded several videos that later became widely circulated among news media and on social media.
One of the videos shows the police arresting Fening, in spite of Swartsell’s insistence that she was a reporter working to cover the protest. CityBeat later released a statement in support of the reporters. Both Fening and Lucas have been represented by ACLU lawyers in court.
“The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, but that right is not unlimited,” Drew Harris, a Kenton County prosecutor, wrote in an email to LINK nky. “Like all citizens, journalists must comply with reasonable time, place and manner restrictions. They do not have the unfettered right to report from any location they choose, particularly when public safety and access are at stake.”
LINK nky will report more on the outcome of the trials as they occur.