‘They asked for that beat down': Man and woman bashed by mob in horrifying viral footage

News.com.au

4 days ago

WARNING: Graphic content
Sickening footage of a man and woman being brutally bashed by a mob in Cincinnati, Ohio has sparked nationwide outrage in the US.
Five people have since been charged over the attack in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, after the disturbing clip showing a middle-aged woman being knocked out cold and left with blood pouring from her mouth set the internet ablaze this week.
The video appeared to show a white man and woman being targeted by a group of largely black assailants as onlookers jeer and yell.
The male victim, wearing a white T-shirt, is brutally bashed by a large crowd of men and women, who take turns stomping and punching his head in a prolonged attack as he cowers on the ground. He eventually gets to his feet, blood covering his face.
A woman is then attacked from behind by another woman before being sucker punched in the face by a man, falling backwards onto the road where she lays unconscious for around 30 seconds before she is eventually helped up by onlookers.
The victims, reportedly tourists attending the city's famous Cincinnati Jazz Festival, sustained serious injuries, including a concussion.
The attack took place on the corner of Fourth and Elm Street, in front of around 100 revellers.
On Wednesday night, Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno shared gruesome images on social media of the injuries sustained by the female victim, identified only as Holly.
'This is Holly,' he wrote. 'She wanted to have a nice evening out with friends. Instead, she got this.'
The grim images show Holly with a huge black eye and busted lip, with one showing dark bruises across her entire face and neck.
'When I saw the video [I] thought she had been killed,' Mr Moreno told Fox News' Fox & Friends on Thursday, adding that the images of her injuries were 'so graphic, so horrible'.
'Holly gave me permission to release the photos so that others will never suffer what she did.'
Mr Moreno told local news outlet WCPO Holly was a middle-aged woman with a special-needs child, who had since been in out and out of hospital multiple times.
He said the 'mob didn't do anything about it' and that after the attack 'one police officer came by … nobody called an ambulance, the police didn't take her to get her aid, she took an Uber home'.
The Senator blasted the response from local politicians in the wake of the violence — including Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks, who claimed in a social media post that the victims were asking to be assaulted.
'They asked for that beat down,' Ms Parks replied to video on Facebook. 'I am grateful for the whole story.'
The 67-year-old Democrat angered Cincinnati's police union boss, who blasted Ms Parks for the comments and called for her resignation.
Ms Parks began serving in her seat in January 2022. She announced she would not be seeking re-election for this year's general election and her plans to retire this past January.
Her Facebook account says she was formerly the commissioner at Hamilton County, Ohio, after she served as the former chief of staff to Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune.
In her official city biography page, Parks says she 'led the charge in passing Racism as a Public Health Crisis' when working for Hamilton County.
'It's unconscionable that an elected official would be celebrating violence in the very city she was voted to serve,' Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police president Ken Kober told Fox News Digital.
'This highlights the poor political environment that police officers, residents and visitors are currently enduring. Thankfully, there's an election in November. I urge voters to vote for change!'
Republican State Representative Phil Plummer also demanded Ms Parks step down.
'Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks must resign immediately! Defending violent criminals who viciously beat innocent people is disgusting,' Mr Plummer said on X. 'Her words 'They begged for that beat down!' are outrageous. Prosecutors must charge the attackers with a hate crime. We must protect our streets!'
Mr Moreno said he would ask federal agencies to pull funding from the city if leaders do not 'put together an action plan … to protect the civil rights of their citizens'.
'This is what political leaders in Cincinnati are allowing,' he told Fox & Friends.
'These idiotic political leaders that the citizens allow to have office need to go. I'm going to call on all federal agencies to review the funding that we provide Cincinnati and I'm giving the leaders of Cincinnati one month to come up with a plan for them to protect civil rights for their citizens. If they don't do it … I'm going to ask the agencies to suspend all federal funding because we're not going to put up with this.'
He continued, 'The police chief blames social media. The city council person blamed the victim. This is a total travesty. I'm not going to put up with it. Ohio deserves better and Cincinnati certainly does too.'
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval responded publicly late Monday, after the beating had been circulated for about 36 hours. He has been on holiday in Canada all week, and finally announced plans to cut his vacation short and return to the city on Thursday.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge announced on Tuesday five people had been charged in the beat down.
Montianez Merriweather, 34, and Dekyra Vernon, 24, were arrested on Tuesday night. Both face felonious assault, aggravated riot and assault charges. Merriweather is being held on a $US500,000 bond, while Vernon is being held on a $US200,000 bond.
A third suspect, Jermaine Matthews, was also taken into custody and charged with aggravated riot and assault. He is being held on a $US100,000 bond.
Police allege Merriweather and Matthews co-ordinated the 'ambush' attack.
'Ultimately, we do have on video Mr Merriweather walking up to co-defendant. He whispers something to him, then walks back behind the victim,' a Cincinnati Police detective testified in court Wednesday, according to WXIX.
'As to Merriweather's involvement in this, we believe he co-ordinated this with Mr Matthews. He walked up to him on the video, whispered something to him and then strategically placed himself behind the victim as the assault began.'
Matthews had a bond hearing on Thursday, where he was charged with two felony assault charges, along with another assault charge. His bond was raised to $US270,000. He has pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer, Brandon Fox, told the court that Matthews did not start the fight.
'That video that we discussed yesterday has now been released of that individual slapping on my client and then the fight ensuing thereafter,' he said.
Mr Fox also said that Matthews is not responsible for knocking one of the victims out, though it is unclear to which victim he is referring.
'That person was knocked unconscious by a different individual, and my client moved that person from his business vehicle. That's where the basis of that charge comes from,' Mr Fox said.
He also made claims that one of the victims used racial slurs before the fight.
The Cincinnati Police detective disputed that the slap began the fight.
He told the judge that 'we have video footage that totally disputes the slap being the first incident of someone putting their hands on someone'.
Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor David Hickenlooper also weighed in.
'This person is unconscious,' he said of the victim. 'He wasn't rendering aid. He was dragging him into the middle of the street after he had been knocked out. This is my understanding.'
Police say charges have been filed against two more people, who are not yet in custody.
The attack is now under federal investigation by FBI and Justice Department.
'Every American is entitled to the equal protection of our laws,' Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney-General for Civil Rights at the US Department of Justice, wrote on X.
'Federal law enforcement is on it and we will ensure that justice is done.'
On Thursday, Fox News Digital obtained audio recording of the sole 911 call after the brawl.
A dazed-sounding man called authorities around 3am on July 26. The call lasted three minutes and 15 seconds, as the 911 operator asked a litany of questions, including how many people had been involved in the fight. It was placed after the brutal beat down had ended, the caller indicated.
'So you keep saying they left, do you need police to respond out?' she asked toward the end of the call.
'I would prefer, yes,' the man said. 'I would prefer, yes. Absolutely.'
Ms Theetge said out of the 100 or so people on the scene, the man was the only one to call 911.
'That is unacceptable to not call the police,' she said in a news conference earlier this week. 'Traffic was horrendous. People saw this. They were fighting in front of traffic. Why didn't people call us?'