Latest news with #AymanSoliman
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Police clash with protesters as anti-ICE demonstration turns violent
At least 13 people were arrested after police clashed with anti-ICE protesters on the Roebling Bridge between Ohio and Kentucky. Video shows a police officer repeatedly punching a demonstrator in the head while other officers try to get him on the ground. The demonstration was in support of Ayman Soliman, a 51-year-old Egyptian national who worked as a Muslim chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and was recently detained while checking in with immigration officials.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Police clash with protesters as anti-ICE demonstration turns violent
At least 13 people were arrested after police clashed with anti-ICE protesters on the Roebling Bridge between Ohio and Kentucky. Video shows a police officer repeatedly punching a demonstrator in the head while other officers try to get him on the ground. The demonstration was in support of Ayman Soliman, a 51-year-old Egyptian national who worked as a Muslim chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and was recently detained while checking in with immigration officials.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
ICE raid sparks pandemonium as cops batter agitators blocking major bridge
Dozens were arrested, and one cop was placed on administrative duty after violent clashes broke out during an anti-ICE protest on an interstate bridge. Demonstrators protesting the immigration detention of former hospital chaplain Ayman Soliman blocked the Roebling Bridge that carries traffic between Ohio and Kentucky on Thursday. Approximately 100 people crossed the bridge from the Ohio side, but fights broke out after protesters were met by nearly 50 officers from Covington, Kentucky, reported Shocking footage showed one officer punching a protester several times as police wrestled him to the ground. Covington Police Chief Brian Valenti claimed the protester, Brandon Hill, had tried to disarm an officer carrying a pepper ball gun. However, Hill, who was left covered in scratches and bruises and with his arm in a sling, insisted he was just trying not to get shot. 'It's all very traumatic, and I'm still trying to recover from this, honestly,' Hill told WCPO. 'If anything like that happened, it's because a random gun was pointed in my face.' Covington police placed the officer who arrested Hill on administrative duty with pay while the investigation is ongoing. Body camera footage from the unidentified officer showed him chasing Hill as he was running along the sidewalk before the cop grabbed him near the ledge of the bridge. Hill can be heard on other officers' body cams yelling 'ow' and 'stop' as he got hit in the head. In the officer's use-of-force report, he wrote: '[Hill] continued to physically resist, actively concealing his hands... fearing that [he] might be attempting to access a weapon, and that the surrounding crowd opposed a threat to my safety, I delivered additional closed fist strikes.' Another video from the protest showed people wearing neon-colored vests pushing against a black SUV on the bridge. Police arrested 15 people during the protest, including two journalists, after police said they had refused to comply with orders to disperse. Covington police said in a statement that officers who initially attempted to talk with the protest's organizer were threatened and met with hostility. 'While the department supports the public's right to peaceful assembly and expression, threatening officers and blocking critical infrastructure, such as a major bridge, presents a danger to all involved,' the police said. Among the charges filed against those arrested were rioting, failing to disperse, obstructing emergency responders, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. Reporter Madeline Fening and photo intern Lucas Griffith were charged with felony rioting and several other charges, said Ashley Moor, the editor in chief of CityBeat. A judge on Friday set a $2,500 bond for each of those arrested. The arrests happened during a protest in support of Ayman Soliman, 51, an Egyptian immigrant who worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. He was detained last week after he showed up for a routine check-in with ICE officials at their office near Cincinnati. According to his lawyers, he was granted asylum in 2018 based on past persecution for his work as a journalist in Egypt during the Arab Spring uprising. His lawyers say he was jailed and tortured for reporting on the intense political conflict.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Journalists among those arrested during immigration-related protest in Cincinnati
Police in Cincinnati arrested at least 13 people, including two journalists, after demonstrators protesting the immigration detention of a former hospital chaplain blocked a two-lane bridge carrying traffic over the Ohio River. A reporter and a photography intern who were arrested while covering the protest for CityBeat, a Cincinnati news and entertainment outlet, were among those arraigned Friday morning in a Kentucky court. Other journalists reporting on protests around the U.S. have been have arrested and injured this year. More than two dozen were hurt or roughed up while covering protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. 5 Cincinnati police arrested at least 13 people, including two journalists, after protesters blocked a two-lane bridge to demonstrate against the immigration detention of a former hospital chaplain. WLWT 5 Hospital chaplain Ayman Soliman in the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, after he was detained on July 9 during a routine check-in with immigration officials. AP A Spanish-language journalist was arrested in June while covering a No Kings protest near Atlanta. Police initially charged Mario Guevara, a native of El Salvador, with unlawful assembly, obstruction of police and being a pedestrian on or along the roadway. A prosecutor dropped the charges, but Guevara had already been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is being held in a south Georgia immigration detention center. His lawyers say he has been authorized to work and remain in the country, but ICE is trying to deport him. Video from the demonstration in Cincinnati Thursday night shows several tense moments, including when an officer punches a protester several times as police wrestle him to the ground. 5 An officer punches a protester several times as police wrestle him to the ground during the protest. @gpirnia / X Earlier, a black SUV drove slowly onto the Roebling Bridge while protesters walked along the roadway that connects Cincinnati with Kentucky. Another video shows a person in a neon-colored vest pushing against the SUV. Police in Covington, Kentucky, said those arrested had refused to comply with orders to disperse. The department said in a statement that officers who initially attempted to talk with the protest's organizer were threatened and met with hostility. Among the charges filed against those arrested were rioting, failing to disperse, obstructing emergency responders, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. 5 Police showed up at the Roebling Bridge that connects Cincinnati with Kentucky. @gpirnia / X 5 'While the department supports the public's right to peaceful assembly and expression, threatening officers and blocking critical infrastructure, such as a major bridge, presents a danger to all involved,' Covington police said. WLWT Reporter Madeline Fening and photo intern Lucas Griffith were charged with felony rioting and several other charges, said Ashley Moor, the editor in chief of CityBeat. A judge on Friday set a $2,500 bond for each of those arrested. The arrests happened during a protest in support of Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant who worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. He was detained last week after he showed up for a routine check-in with ICE officials at their office near Cincinnati. Protesters met in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday in support of Soliman, then walked across the bridge carrying a banner that read 'Build Bridges Not Walls.' Covington police said that 'while the department supports the public's right to peaceful assembly and expression, threatening officers and blocking critical infrastructure, such as a major bridge, presents a danger to all involved.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
What to know about Ayman Soliman, the detained Muslim chaplain whose supporters were arrested
More than a dozen people protesting the detainment of a Muslim chaplain were arrested Thursday night in Cincinnati. Video from the demonstration shows some protesters blocking the Roebling Bridge that carries traffic between Ohio and Kentucky, as well as one officer punching a protester while others wrestle him to the ground. At least 13 people were arrested, including two journalists. The demonstrators were there to support Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant who has worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and was detained last week during a check-in with immigration officials. Here's what to know about his case: Who is Ayman Soliman? Soliman, 51, served as an imam — a Muslim religious leader — in Egypt for 14 years before fleeing to the United States in 2014, according to the Initiative on Islam and Medicine, where he serves as a board member. According to his lawyers, he was granted asylum in 2018 based on past persecution for his work as a journalist in Egypt during the Arab Spring uprising. His lawyers say he was jailed and tortured for reporting on the intense political conflict. Soliman was hired as a prison chaplain in Oregon but soon lost that job after the FBI placed an unexplained 'flag' on his background profile. In a case that is still pending, he sued to get more information about the flag and to clear his name. In 2021, Soliman began working at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where his lawyers say he was 'beloved for his steady presence at the side of ill children, parents and other caregivers.' He has a wife and child who remain in Egypt. Why was he detained? In late 2024, a U.S. asylum officer began proceedings to terminate Soliman's asylum status, according to his legal team. The officer cited Soliman's board membership of an organization called Al-Jameya al Shareya as 'material support for terrorism" given the group's links to the Muslim Brotherhood. The U.S. has not designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, though President Donald Trump considered it during his first term. Soliman's lawyers say the Al-Jameya al Shareya is not a terrorist group but rather a nongovernmental organization that provides medical and charitable community services. They accuse the government, which knew about the board membership when it granted asylum, of reversing course in retaliation against his lawsuit. 'After Mr. Soliman stood up for his rights in court, an individual officer decided to take the extreme, unusual and incorrect decision of terminating his lawful status,' they wrote in an update shared by the Ohio Immigrant Alliance on Wednesday. 'What's more, Mr. Soliman's need for asylum has not changed,' they said. 'He faces death if forced to return to Egypt.' Soliman's asylum status was reversed in early June. He was detained on July 9 during a check-in with immigration officials and has been held at the Butler County Jail. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on Soliman's case Friday. On the day of Soliman's arrest, the agency's assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, wrote on X that 'this Egyptian national was flagged on the FBI terror watchlist.' 'He had his asylum status revoked by the (asterisk)checks notes(asterisk) BIDEN Administration,' she wrote. What happens next? A federal court has granted a temporary restraining order preventing Soliman from being moved out of Ohio before Wednesday, the date of his bond hearing. He also is due to make an initial appearance in immigration court Tuesday, but will participate via video feed from the jail.
