Cincinnati officials on Friday said six people are now charged in connection with the mob attack that took place in the city’s downtown area last weekend — and the mayor said a man seen on video issuing a “slap” prior to the beatdown is being “actively investigated.”
Earlier this week, police said five people had been charged in connection with the mob attack, and three of them have been arrested to date. With the new development that six people have been charged, that leaves three people who have yet to be taken into custody.
‘The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified.’
According to video of Friday’s news conference, after a reporter asked if a charge is coming to the man who issued the “slap” prior to the mob attack, Mayor Aftab Pureval said that man is being “actively investigated.”
“We take all violence very seriously,” Pureval said, adding that “we expect more charges and more arrests.”
The mayor also said during the news conference that he “profoundly disagrees” with city council member Victoria Parks, who infamously declared in a Facebook comment that the victims of the mob attack “begged for that beat down!“
In addition, Police Chief Teresa Theetge said at the news conference that next week she may be releasing “additional footage … that tells a little bit more of the story” surrounding the mob attack.
RELATED: US senator shares grisly photos of woman’s bruised, battered face after Cincinnati mob attack
You can view cellphone videos of the mob attack here, here, here, here, and here.
The final two videos appear to show a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants — who would soon be beaten up by the mob — making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts, who soon would take part in the mob attack.
However, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock on Monday stated on “Jason Whitlock Harmony” that he’s heard the argument that the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants — a white man — “started it” by making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts — a black man — and that was justification for the mob attack.
But Whitlock wasn’t having it.
“That’s ridiculous to me,” Whitlock said. “The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified.”
BlazeTV contributor Shemeka Michelle agreed, telling Whitlock the attack was “definitely unjustified. When they tried to show the video of the guy in the red being pushed and acting as if that was justification. … But for all of these people to jump in — and it wasn’t just men jumping in; there were women jumping in as if they were men.”
Whitlock on Sunday posted a message on X calling out the mob attack, saying that “this behavior and lack of national outrage are unsustainable. It’s unsustainable. The anti-white bigotry at the root of this behavior must be addressed. Sickening.”
The FBI on Monday opened an investigation into the mob attack, WXIX-TV reported. The incident is under investigation as a potential hate crime, according to Fox News.
Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio late Wednesday shared grisly images of a woman’s face in an X post after she was beaten up and apparently knocked out cold during the mob attack.
The mother of one of the arrested mob attack suspects defended her ‘honor roll’ son earlier this week — a 34-year-old who’s been charged with felonious assault and aggravated riot — saying, “My child is in school, he has five kids, he’s on the B honor roll in school.”
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