A progressive agitator who leads a local chapter of the left-wing group Indivisible and was once arrested for trespassing in a Republican senator’s office is behind weekly protests against Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio).
The Ohio Progressive Action Leaders coalition has organized a series of actions aimed to disrupt Moreno’s district office in Cleveland since early February, including weekly gatherings outside the office and regular phone banks to "bombard Bernie’s phone lines" with upwards of 1,600 calls a day until his voicemail boxes are full. At the same time, local media outlets have provided favorable coverage to the activists, publishing stories centered around their complaints over a lack of "accessibility" from the freshman senator in part because his office can’t accept any more voicemails.
"Moreno and his staff have been impossible to reach by phone, and his office does not return calls," the coalition said in its most recent call for activists to convene outside Moreno’s office. "Biden won by 4+ percent in 2020, Trump won by 1.5 percent in 2024. And even fewer votes in 2016. This election is not a mandate. We demand to be seen AND heard."
The coalition’s claim that Moreno and his staff have been "impossible to reach" stands in contrast to the fact that one of its leaders, Meryl Neiman, filmed herself on Wednesday meeting with a member of Moreno’s staff at the senator’s Cleveland office, according to footage she uploaded to her Facebook page.
In addition to her work with the coalition, Neiman is also a longtime leader of the Central Ohio chapter of Indivisible, a dark money group that has raised a staggering $82.7 million since its founding in 2017, thanks in part to contributions from liberal billionaire George Soros's philanthropic network. Indivisible has been at the center of ongoing demonstrations against GOP lawmakers across the country during President Donald Trump's second term. During the Wednesday meeting, Neiman told the Moreno staffer that neither she nor the activists involved in the persistent protests outside the senator’s office are being paid by dark money interests.
Neiman knows a thing or two about disrupting Ohio Republican lawmakers, having been arrested in 2018 for participating in a sit-in inside the district office of former Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) to demand he take action against the Trump administration’s family separation policies for illegal immigrants, a policy Portman opposed.
The progressive activist spent 24 hours in jail for criminally trespassing in Portman’s office. She later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection to the incident, according to Franklin County court records. Neiman later wrote an op-ed complaining about the inhumane treatment she said she was subjected to during her stay at Jackson Pike Correctional Facility, which she called "one of the country’s worst jails."
But Neiman’s more recent statements indicate she’s willing to let bygones be bygones. In February, she publicly praised Portman for setting somewhat of a gold standard for constituent accessibility now that she has her sights set on Moreno.
"It used to be with Senator Portman, for example, that people could go, constituents could stop in, and they would call them up," Neiman told Spectrum News in February without mentioning her 2018 arrest. "And if the staffers weren't in the meeting or otherwise unavailable, you could just go up and see your representative."
The ongoing disruptions against Moreno’s district office come as Indivisible is ramping up its efforts to disrupt town halls and district operations of Republican lawmakers across the country. Earlier in March, Indivisible pledged to pay activists and groups up to $200 to cover costs to protest upcoming town halls for Republican lawmakers. Eligible expenses include cardboard depictions of members of Congress and "chicken suits," the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Known donors to Indivisible include Soros and his fellow Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman. The full extent of the dark money group’s funding sources, however, is unclear. As a nonprofit organization, Indivisible does not have to disclose the sources of its funding to the public.
Moreno spokeswoman Reagan McCarthy in February described the left-wing efforts to disrupt the senator’s district offices as "petty political projects" from "Democrat dark money groups."
"Assisting Ohioans in need is Senator Moreno’s top priority," McCarthy said. "While the Senate has been dealing with an exceptionally high volume of calls, our office is committed to responding to each and every Ohioan in need of assistance and working through all requests as quickly as possible."
Neiman maintained that Moreno has been "impossible to reach" in a statement Thursday to the Free Beacon but conceded that she has been able to make contact with his staff. The activist also confirmed her roles as a member of the Ohio Progressive Action Leaders coalition leadership team and as a volunteer with Indivisible Central Ohio.
"We are all regular people, none of us paid or dark money funded," Neiman said. "The group in Cleveland that has been protesting there is composed of Cleveland constituents who will have had their own distinct experiences."