COLUMBUS, OH (6/5/25] - The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio (Ohio FOP) today
launched Protect Ohio Police. This initiative will ensure accountability of elected officials
from city council to statewide for their roles in violence against cops.
The initiative comes in response to a particularly violent May in Ohio, which saw a
recently retired deputy in Hamilton County targeted and run down in cold blood, a
deputy shot dead in Morrow County, and two Mifflin Township officers shot as a result of
a traffic stop.
Ohio FOP President Jay McDonald says that the violence against police must stop, and
that it's going to take more than words from politicians.
"We appreciate the Facebook posts and carefully crafted statements of Ohio elected
officials in the wake of violence against police," McDonald said. "We've seen the
statements. Now let's see some spine."
McDonald pointed out that introducing legislation isn't enough and that often, elected
officials introduce a bill to gain clout without ever intending to see it passed and signed
into law.
"We're going to call out when politicians take action - or fail to take action - in ways that
put police at risk," McDonald said. "Elected officials should stop protecting their public
image and start protecting the men and women of law enforcement."
The Mifflin Township suspect had been in court at least twice before Judge Kim Brown
accepted a plea agreement agreed to by the county prosecutor, setting him free on
guilty pleas of aggravated burglary, unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance, and
having weapons while under disability.

Protect Ohio Police is a political action committee that will advocate for local
ordinances, strong bail and sentencing against violent offenders, and new state laws.
Failing that, it will mobilize the more than 20,000 members of the FOP statewide,
friends, family, and allies, to recruit and run candidates against those who put police at
risk.
"Our members from every corner of Ohio are unified that it's time to take action," Akron
FOP Lodge #7 President Brian Lucey said. "We always seem to be asking, 'How many
more lives need to be lost before we change?' The answer now is no more lives. We
must act now."
Over the coming weeks and months, Protect Ohio Police will lay out a legislative
framework targeting local ordinances, state laws, and the expectation that prosecutors
and judges will be tough on violent criminals. It will aggressively advocate for that
framework; where it fails, it will seek new candidates who will see it through.
"Protecting police is about protecting the community," McDonald continued. "The
recruitment crisis is very real and exacerbated by violence against police. Let's also not
ignore the fact that if someone is willing to target police, they pose a significant threat to
the community at large."
"We will be mobilizing tens of thousands of Ohioans against politicians who put cops in
danger," McDonald concluded. "We will expressly tell them to only use lawful action to
convince these officeholders. Angry bad guys act out with violence, but angry good guys
act out with their voice and their vote. That's what we'll be doing with Protect Ohio
Police."
Ohioans can follow the new initiative at ProtectOhioPolice.org.
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