NATHANIEL R. JONES, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which COLE, J., joined. ENGEL, J. (pp. 522-27), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.
OPINION
NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff-Appellant James McCurdy brought this § 1983 suit against Defendants-Appellees Officer David Cole and Montgomery County, claiming that they violated his right to be free from unreasonable seizures under the Fourth Amendment and retaliated against him for the assertion of his First Amendment rights. The district court dismissed McCurdy’s First Amendment retaliation claim after granting Officer Cole’s motion for qualified immunity, and a jury returned a verdict for Defendants on McCurdy’s Fourth Amendment claim. McCurdy then moved for judgment as a matter of law, or a new trial in the alternative, and the district court denied these motions in their entirety. For the following reasons, we REVERSE both the district court’s denial of McCurdy’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on his Fourth Amendment claim and its grant of qualified immunity on McCurdy’s First Amendment retaliation claim. Accordingly, we REMAND for further proceedings.
I.
On July 6, 1996, McCurdy hosted a graduation party for his nephew, Dwayne Smith, who had just graduated from Wright State University. The party was held at the clubhouse in the apartment complex where McCurdy then resided in Centerville, Ohio. The party ended around midnight, and while most of the patrons went home at that time, McCurdy and several others, including his brother-in-law Roger Smith and acquaintance Heath Goolsby, went to McCurdy’s apartment to play cards. McCurdy had consumed alcohol both at the clubhouse party and the card game in his apartment. Around five in the morning, McCurdy and his son, James McCurdy Jr., accompanied Smith and Goolsby to their cars to see them off. The four men, who are all African-American, conversed for about fifteen minutes when a police cruiser drove by.
Officer Cole, who was on “routine patrol” and not responding to any specific complaints concerning McCurdy’s apartment or the surrounding area, drove past McCurdy and company very slowly. After this initial drive-by, Officer Cole, without any provocation from McCurdy or his group, circled back towards them. As Officer Cole drove by the group for a second time, he, in his own words, “stopped and observed them for just a few seconds and [to] gain their attention ... said what’s up gentlemen?” J.A. at 161. At that point, Officer Cole recalled McCurdy asking either “what’s the problem?” or “can I help you?” Id. Officer Cole, who had parked his car a short distance away from the men, could not hear McCurdy and asked him to repeat what he had said. According to Officer Cole, McCurdy then demanded, “what the fu*k do you want?” Id.
Office Cole then exited his vehicle and approached McCurdy. According to Officer Cole, he then questioned McCurdy as to why he used profane language in addressing him. After McCurdy reiterated his queries as to the reason for Officer Cole’s approach, the officer asserted that it was his job to “see what’s going on” if “somebody’s standing out here at 5:00 in the morning.” J.A. at 162. According to Officer Cole, McCurdy then exclaimed “what the fu*k is your job?” and Officer Cole asked him, as well as Smith, Goolsby, and McCurdy Jr., for identification. McCurdy responded that he was standing in front of his home, that he was without [516]*516identification, and that neither he nor his friends needed to display any.
Officer Cole next asked McCurdy if he had been drinking that night. Upon responding in the affirmative, the fifty-three year old was ordered to go back inside his house because he lacked identification and was, in Officer Cole’s view, “obviously intoxicated.” Id. at 162-163. McCurdy rejected Officer Cole’s admonishment, claiming that he did not have to go inside and that, furthermore, he did not have to do “sh*t” that Officer Cole ordered. Id. at 163. After McCurdy reiterated his objections to Officer’s Cole purported harassment, Officer Cole warned that if he did not return to his home immediately, he would be arrested and taken to jail. McCurdy then questioned the grounds on which he could be arrested. The officer responded by simply repeating that if he did not go inside, he would be arrested. Once again, McCurdy refused to return to his home, whereupon Officer Cole told him to step to the side and place his hands on the wall. McCurdy again questioned the grounds for arrest. Without specifying the legal basis for the arrest, Officer Cole proceeded to take him into custody. Officer Cole subsequently brought McCurdy to the precinct station and arrested him for Disorderly ConductyPublic Intoxication and Obstructing Official Business under Ohio Rev.Code §§ 2917.11(B)(2) & 2921.31, respectively.
McCurdy subsequently sued Officer Cole and Montgomery County, asserting inter alia that he was arrested in violation of both the First and Fourth Amendments. During jury proceedings, McCurdy contended that the County illegally exercised one of its peremptory challenges on the basis of race. Originally, there were three black members among the twenty-six person venire. See J.A. at 37. One black venireperson was excused for cause because he was connected to the County Sheriffs office, and three white members were also excused for cause. With these dismissals, twenty-two persons, including two African-Americans, remained in the venire from which a jury of eight needed to be selected. Initially, an eight-person jury was seated without any black members. After McCurdy exercised the second of his two peremptory challenges, and after the County passed on exercising its first, African-American Sylvia Williams was seated on the jury. At that point, the County used its last peremptory to excuse Williams, and McCurdy objected that the strike was racially motivated. Without questioning Williams, or engaging in a colloquy with either McCurdy’s or the County’s counsel, the district court rejected McCurdy’s objection, crediting the County’s assertions that Williams’ demeanor showed that she was disinterested in serving on the jury.
After the trial commenced, the district court granted qualified immunity to Officer Cole on McCurdy’s First Amendment retaliation claim. The court concluded that it was not clearly established that the First Amendment prohibited an officer from effectuating an otherwise valid arrest if that officer was partially motivated by a desire to retaliate against the arrestee’s assertion of First Amendment rights. See J.A. at 36-36. The trial proceeded on McCurdy’s remaining claims, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Defendants. McCurdy then moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative, a new trial. McCurdy claimed that Officer Cole did not have probable cause to arrest him, and essentially renewed a challenge to the district court’s qualified immunity judgment by re-asserting his First Amendment retaliation claim. McCurdy also re-asserted his claim that the County exercised one of its peremptories in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The district court denied McCurdy’s motion in its entirety, and McCurdy filed this timely appeal.
II.
A.
On appeal, McCurdy first asserts that the district court erred in denying his [517]*517motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or new trial in the alternative. This court reviews the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law de novo, see Cook v. American Steamship Co., 53 F.3d 733, 740 (6th Cir.1995), and the denial of a motion for new trial for an abuse of discretion. See Barnes v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 201 F.3d 815, 820 (6th Cir.2000). Like the district court, we must affirm the jury’s verdict “unless this Court ‘is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake resulting in plain injustice has been committed,’ or ... the verdict ‘is contrary to all reason.’ ” Schoonover v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., 147 F.3d 492, 494 (6th Cir.1998) (citation omitted). Judgment as a matter of law “is appropriate only when there is a complete absence of fact to support the verdict, so that no reasonable juror could have found for the nonmoving party.” Pouillon v. City of Owosso, 206 F.3d 711, 719 (6th Cir.2000).
Although McCurdy has not asserted his appellate claims in the most artful fashion, his first claim essentially contends that Officer Cole did not have probable cause to arrest him, and that he therefore violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. While the Fourth Amendment allows brief investigatory detentions, or “Terry” stops, to be justified on the basis of a “reasonable suspicion,” see Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21-22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), a full-fledged arrest must be supported by probable cause. See Gardenhire v. Schubert, 205 F.3d 303, 313 (6th Cir.2000).
Probable cause requires that police have reasonably trustworthy information sufficient to warrant an officer of reasonable caution to believe the arrestee committed, or is in the process of committing, an offense. See Centanni v. Eight Unknown Officers, 15 F.3d 587, 592 (6th Cir.1994) (quoting Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964)); Estate of Dietrich v. Burrows, 167 F.3d 1007, 1010-11 (6th Cir.1999). Probable cause further requires that officers articulate concrete and objective facts from which they infer criminal conduct. See United States v. Strickland, 144 F.3d 412, 415 (6th Cir.1998). Moreover, the objective reasonableness of the facts relevant to a probable cause determination is paramount, and the officer’s subjective intentions are irrelevant. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 813, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996) (“Subjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis.”); Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 696, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996) (holding that probable cause is assessed from the perspective of an objectively reasonable police officer). In assessing objective reasonableness, however, we must account for the ability of officers to draw inferences based on their professional experiences. See id. at 700, 116 S.Ct. 1657.
Here, Officer Cole arrested McCurdy for Disorderly Conduct under Ohio Rev.Code 2917.11(B)(2). The statute provides that:
No person, while voluntarily intoxicated, shall ... [ejngage in conduct or create a condition that presents a risk of physical harm to the offender or another, or to the property of another.
O.R.C. § 2917.11(B)(2). The statute therefore requires both that an individual is “voluntarily intoxicated” and that the individual “present[ ] a risk of physical harm” either to himself, another, or another’s property. Id. This second element requires some affirmative showing of dangerousness, as the sole fact that an individual is intoxicated does not give rise to a § 2917.11(B)(2) infraction. See State v. Pennington, No.1998CA00137, 1998 WL 818632, at *1-*2 (Ohio App. Nov. 16, 1998) (not reported in N.E.2d) (citing § 2917.11(B)(2)’s legislative history, asserting that the provision “is aimed at particular conduct, rather than at the condition [of intoxication]”); State v. Jenkins, No. L-97-1303, 1998 WL 161190, at *7 (Ohio [518]*518App. Mar. 31, 1998) (not reported in N.E.2d) (holding that § 2917.11(B)(2) requires “some affirmative conduct on the part of the defendant and [does not] prohibit merely being intoxicated in public”).1
The statute further provides that the determination as to whether an individual is intoxicated is determined from the perspective of an “ordinary observer.” O.R.C. § 2917.11(D). Although § 2917.11 does not provide a definition of intoxication under § 2917.11(B)(2), the district court provided the jury with the following instruction:
A person is intoxicated who is so far under the influence of intoxicating liquor, wine, or beer that his physical and mental faculties are impaired to such an extent that he fails to use that degree of care and attention in his conduct which a reasonable person would otherwise use.
J.A. at 32.
McCurdy argues that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that he was intoxicated or presented “a risk of physical harm to [himself], another, or to the property of another” as required under § 2917.11(B)(2). With regard to the voluntary intoxication element, Officer Cole testified that he smelled alcohol on McCurdy’s breath during his conversation with him and that he believed McCurdy was intoxicated past the level where he could take care of himself. See J.A. at 151; Cole Tr. at 180-81. Additionally, Officer Cole asked McCurdy whether he had been drinking that night, and McCurdy responded in the affirmative. Although Officer Cole did not administer any kind of sobriety or coherence tests, his testimony that he smelled “alcohol real strong on him,” J.A. at 163, coupled with McCurdy’s admission that he consumed alcohol both during his nephew’s party and the card game at his apartment, provided him with probable cause to believe that McCurdy was “voluntarily intoxicated” under O.R.C. § 2917.11(B)(2).
However, the jury’s finding under the second prong of O.R.C. § 2917.11(B)(2) presents a much different question, and we find that no reasonable jury could conclude that Officer Cole had probable cause to believe that McCurdy presented a risk of physical harm either to himself, others, or the property of others. On this issue, Officer Cole testified that:
[W]hen a person is intoxicated to that level, to my training and experience, under law, they essentially become my responsibility once I become in contact with them. If I let that person go, I cannot tell you what’s going to happen to them. I can only, unfortunately, speculate what could happen to them. That’s why it becomes my responsibility to make sure that one of a million things does not happen to them....
J.A. at 151-152; Cole Tr. at 180-181 (emphasis added). Moreover, Officer Cole stated that “[b]y exhibiting his intoxicated nature[,] ... there was no way that I could tell at that point that [McCurdy] was not there to do damage to the property of [519]*519another person that lived in the area. That’s why he was arrested.” J.A. at 148 (emphasis added). Officer Cole additionally asserted that after he approached McCurdy, McCurdy’s associates combat-ively challenged his authority.
By Officer Cole’s own testimony, he did not have probable cause to arrest McCur-dy under O.R.C. § 2917.11(B)(2), and the district court therefore erred in denying McCurdy’s motion for judgment as a matter of law. Generously granting Officer Cole the benefit of all inferences and doubts, Officer Cole, at best, presumed that McCurdy presented a risk of harm either to himself, another, or the property of another solely because he appeared to be intoxicated. However, as noted above, the language of the statute clearly provides that intoxication alone does not give rise to a § 2917.11(B)(2) violation. See Pennington, 1998 WL 818632 at *l-*2; Jenkins, 1998 WL 161190 at *7. In this regard, neither Officer Cole nor the County has cited any objective and articulable facts from which Officer Cole could reasonably infer that McCurdy presented a risk of physical harm under § 2917.11(B)(2).
Indeed, Officer Cole testified essentially that there were no objective facts to trigger probable cause, as he could only “speculate” on the “one of a million things” that might occur' if he did not arrest McCurdy. Moreover, Officer Cole stated plainly that he arrested McCurdy because “there was no way that [he] could tell ... that [McCurdy] was not there to do damage to the property of another person that lived in the area.” J.A. at 148. When an officer literally has no idea whether a presumptively law-abiding citizen has violated the law, the Fourth Amendment clearly commands that government let the individual be. Indeed, if anything is clear about the Fourth Amendment, it is this: government may deprive its citizens of liberty when, and only when, it has a viable claim that an individual has committed a crime, and that claim is supported empirically by concrete and identifiable facts. See Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 376, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993); United States v. Reed, No. 99-3393, 2000 WL 665398, at *2 (6th Cir. May 23, 2000). Officer Cole did not satisfy these fundamental imperatives, and, accordingly, we reverse the district court’s denial of McCurdy’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict as it relates to Officer Cole in his individual capacity. Because the district court did not address specifically whether a County custom or policy gave rise either to County liability, see, e.g., Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 689-90, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978); Board of County Comm’rs of Bryan County v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 407-08, 117 S.Ct. 1382, 137 L.Ed.2d 626 (1997), or liability against Officer Cole in his official capacity, see, e.g., Hayden v. Combest, No. 95-5065, 1995 WL 712801, at *1 (6th Cir. Dec.1, 1995) (unpublished opinion), we remand for further proceedings.2
B.
McCurdy also contends that the district court erred in granting Officer Cole’s motion for qualified immunity on his First Amendment retaliation claim. We review the district court’s grant of qualified immunity de novo. See Gardenhire, 205 F.3d at 310. Qualified immunity [520]*520shields government officials performing discretionary functions from liability for civil damages when their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person should have known. See Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). We apply a two-step analysis to determine whether a public official is entitled to qualified immunity: first, we determine whether a clearly established constitutional or statutory right has been violated; and second, we ascertain, pursuant to an objective standard, whether the official acted unreasonably in light of the clearly established right. See Bloch v. Ribar, 156 F.3d 673, 678 (6th Cir.1998).
The district court concluded that when Officer Cole acted, it was not clearly established that the First Amendment prohibited an officer from effectuating an otherwise valid arrest if that officer was motivated by a desire to retaliate against the arrestee’s assertion of First Amendment rights. We have held that adverse state action “motivated at least in part as a-response to the exercise of the plaintiffs constitutional rights” presents an actionable claim of retaliation. See Bloch, 156 F.3d at 678 (citing Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977)). Since the day the ink dried on the Bill of Rights, “[t]he right of an American citizen to criticize public officials and policies ... is ‘the central meaning of the First Amendment.’ ” Glasson v. City of Louisville, 518 F.2d 899, 904 (6th Cir.1975) (quoting New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 273, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964)). There can be no doubt that the freedom to express disagreement with state action, without fear of reprisal based on the expression, is unequivocally among the protections provided by the First Amendment. See id.; Bloch, 156 F.3d at 682; see also Barrett v. Harrington, 130 F.3d 246, 264 (6th Cir.1997) (“[T]he First Amendment right to criticize public officials is well-established and supported by ample case law. Furthermore, it is well-established that a public official’s retaliation against an individual exercising his or her First Amendment rights is a violation of § 1983.”); Duran v. City of Douglas, 904 F.2d 1372, 1378 (9th Cir.1990) (“[government officials in general, and police officers in particular, may not exercise their authority for personal motives, particularly in response to real or perceived slights to their dignity. Surely, anyone who takes an oath of office knows — or should know— that much.”).
It is well-established then that McCurdy had a constitutional right to challenge verbally Officer Cole’s surveillance, and we therefore reverse the district court’s grant of qualified immunity to Officer Cole. Because the district court did not address whether McCurdy’s arrest was at least partially motivated by protected conduct, we remand for further proceedings.
C.
McCurdy finally asserts that the County improperly used a peremptory challenge to exclude a black juror in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. McCurdy specifically objects to the County’s use of a peremptory to strike African-American Sylvia Williams from the jury. In response, the County contends that Williams’ demeanor during voir dire suggested that she was disinterested in serving as a juror. In the district court, the County’s attorney stated:
[I]n my view in watching [Williams], there was no response to any of the questions, no nodding of the head. I just took it that she wasn’t interested in the case, and I had her crossed off from the beginning, Judge, as far as not being responsive, and that’s my reason for exercising ... the peremptory challenge.
J.A. at 103. Without questioning Williams, or engaging in a colloquy with either McCurdy’s or the County’s counsel, the district court overruled McCurdy’s Batson objection. See J.A. at 104. In McCurdy’s [521]*521new trial motion, he reiterated his challenge to the peremptory. The district court rejected his renewed challenge, concluding that Ms. Williams was “passive” in the face of the parties’ questioning and that the County therefore had articulated a race-neutral justification for its exercise of the peremptory.
A district court’s ruling on whether the exercise of a peremptory challenge violates equal protection is entitled to “great deference,” and we may not disturb its judgment unless it is clearly erroneous. United States v. Buchanan, 213 F.3d 302, 308-09 (6th Cir.2000). It is settled that the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection ensures that a party may not exercise a peremptory challenge to remove an individual on account of that person’s race. See Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986); Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., Inc., 500 U.S. 614, 630-31, 111 S.Ct. 2077, 114 L.Ed.2d 660 (1991) (extending Batson rule to civil trials). To establish a equal protection violation under Batson, the claimant must first establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination. See United States v. Mahan, 190 F.3d 416, 424 (6th Cir.1999). If the claimant establishes a prima facie case, the party exercising the peremptory must proffer a race-neutral explanation. See id. This non-racial explanation “need not be particularly persuasive, or even plausible, so long as it is neutral.” United States v. Harris, 192 F.3d 580, 586 (6th Cir.1999). After the defending party offers its race-neutral justification, the challenging party must demonstrate that the purported explanation is merely a pretext for a racial motivation. See id. As with discrimination claims generally, the ultimate burden of persuasion always rests with the party challenging the peremptory. See Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 768, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995).
While body language and demeanor are permissible race-neutral justifications for the exercise of a peremptory, see United States v. Changco, 1 F.3d 837, 840 (9th Cir.1993) (“[P]assivity,. inattentiveness, or inability to relate to other jurors [are] valid, race-neutral explanations for excluding jurors.”), district courts nevertheless must “explicitly adjudicate] the credibility of the non-moving or challenging party’s race neutral explanations.” Jordan v. Lefevre, 206 F.3d 196, 200 (2d Cir.2000); see United States v. Perez, 35 F.3d 632, 636 (1st Cir.1994) (holding that the trial court must assess the credibility of the race-neutral explanation). The need for an explicit, on-the-record analysis of each of the elements of a Batson challenge is especially important when the purported race-neutral justification is predicated on subjective explanations like body language or demeanor. See United States v. Ledford, No. 96-5659, 1997 WL 659673, at *2 (6th Cir. Oct.22, 1997) (unpublished opinion) (noting that crediting subjective explanations for peremptory strikes could allow an improperly motivated attorney to “circumvent” Batson). Because the primary defense to pretext based violations of Batson is the district court’s ability to assess the credibility of an attorney’s representations, it is critical that the district court independently assess the proffered justifications. See Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 365, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991).
Here, because the district court did not merely credit the explanation of the County, but itself found that Williams was passive and disinterested, we conclude that McCurdy has not demonstrated that the district court clearly erred in dismissing his Batson challenge. Nevertheless, we underscore that the district court’s initial reaction to McCurdy’s Bat-son claim, in which it perfunctorily accepted the County’s race-neutral explanation, see J.A. at 104,3 did not conform to the [522]*522requirement that the district court make expressed findings on each of the elements of a Batson claim. See Jordan, 206 F.3d at 200. It was not until McCurdy’s post-verdict motion for new trial that the district court made its own findings pertaining to Williams’ demeanor, and thereby complied with the requirements of Batson. Given that we grant “great deference” to the district court’s Batson findings, see Buchanan, 207 F.3d at 350, and that the court ultimately engaged in the constitutionally required analysis, we affirm the district court’s denial of McCurdy’s Batson claim.
III.
Because no rational jury could find that Officer Cole had probable cause to arrest McCurdy under O.R.C. § 2917.11(B)(2), we REVERSE the district court’s denial of McCurdy’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and enter judgment for McCurdy on his Fourth Amendment claim against Officer Cole in his individual capacity. We also REVERSE the district court’s grant of qualified immunity to Officer Cole on McCurdy’s First Amendment retaliation claim, as it was clearly established at the time Officer Cole acted that he could not retaliate against McCurdy for asserting his First Amendment rights. With these rulings, we REMAND to the district court for further proceedings on McCurdy's Fourth Amendment claim against the County and his First Amendment retaliation claim.