Thomas Niehaus has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of malicious use of fire after setting Pride flags ablaze in several Cincinnati neighborhoods last summer.
The 52-year-old was arrested last July following an investigation into a series of arson fires targeting Pride flags attached to homes in Clifton, Clifton Heights, and Northside.
“These actions posed a serious risk to community safety in occupied residences,” the Cincinnati Fire Department said in a news release. No injuries were reported.
“While the acts of this individual sadden us, the Cincinnati Fire Department would like to acknowledge the quick and responsive work of our Fire Investigative Unit,” Fire Chief Frank McKinley said. “This is a testament to their commitment to bring justice to those involved in criminal activities and to provide the highest level of safety to all Cincinnati residents.”
Arresting officers said Niehaus confessed to setting the fires shortly after he was apprehended, according to court records.
FBI agents who questioned Niehaus after his arrest described him in court papers as “full of rage.” He told them he had been drinking with a friend who spoke about “a movement that sexualizes children that is supposedly endorsed by members of the LGBTQ community,” and said he felt he “absolutely had to do something.”
During his first court appearance, Niehaus shouted, “Fighting for the children!”
He will be sentenced at a later date on the federal charge.
Niehaus also faces nine aggravated arson and related charges in Hamilton County court, to which he has pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 30 at the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Following Niehaus’s arrest last summer, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said she was “deeply disturbed and outraged” by the Pride flag fires.
“These were not acts of random vandalism. They were targeted, hateful attempts to intimidate and silence members of our community,” Pillich said at the time. “Everyone deserves to feel safe and seen in their own neighborhoods. We will not tolerate hate in any form, and we stand firmly with our LGBTQIA+ neighbors, so they know they are supported, valued, and protected.”
A conversation with Suzy Eddie Izzard is like trying to keep pace with a runaway train -- exhilarating, relentless, just barely containable. Ideas tumble out at speed, veering from Shakespeare to history to personal reflection, all delivered with the charisma that has defined her decades-long career across stand-up, stage, film, and television. It's a thrill ride.
Barreling from topic to topic with a kind of manic precision, the glamorous Izzard brings a joie de vivre to her delivery that doesn't fully translate on the page -- the sense that each answer is its own performance, unfolding in real time.
Transgender activist Samantha Boucher deliberately violated a newly enacted Kansas law criminalizing the use of bathrooms or other facilities that do not align with a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The founder and executive director of the national nonprofit Trans Liberty, Boucher opposes the law, which took effect after Republican lawmakers overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Boucher told the Kansas Reflector she came to Kansas on March 31, Trans Day of Visibility, because "no single bill in American history has ever been as aggressive toward the trans community as SB 244," referring to the law by its legislative designation.
John Kluge has settled a lawsuit against the Brownsburg Community School Corporation after claiming he was forced out of his music teaching job for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred first name, arguing the district's policy requiring staff to use transgender students' preferred names and pronouns violated his religious beliefs.
Kluge, who identifies as Christian, alleged the district discriminated against him and retaliated after he refused to follow the policy.
The controversy began in 2017 after the Brownsburg school district adopted a policy requiring teachers to call students by the name listed in a school database, which reflected transgender students' preferred first names.
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