It is hard to watch the viral video of the street violence that occurred in downtown Cincinnati over the weekend.
It is harder to watch when you live in suburban Cincinnati and have walked along that very stretch of downtown many times over the years.
The video shows multiple African Americans beating and kicking a white man in the street.
One person that analyzed the video counted 32 foot stomps by 17 different active assailants on the male victim.
It ends with a white woman, who was attempting to be a peacekeeper, being cold cocked and lying in the street bleeding and unconscious from the attack.
Here is a report from Fox News about the brawl that includes a portion of the viral video.
What would possess anyone (let alone a gang of people) to resort to this type of random violence?
Perhaps there was a verbal exchange or push between the white man and a black man first but what is in someone else's mind that they believe they should just join in the brawl on a random person?
Even worse, why would a Black man sucker punch an innocent white woman who is doing nothing beyond trying to calm things down and assist the man in the street?
It is also beyond troubling that out of the scores of people watching all of this occur only one call was made to 911 for police and medical assistance.
Cincinnati police have also been criticized for having few police on the street when this unfolded despite the fact that earlier in the evening there had been a Reds game, a music festival and 3v3 basketball tournament that brought over 100,000 people to the downtown area that night.
The Cincinnati police apparently did not even know the incident had occurred until the video went viral.
The absolute worse thing I have seen in the aftermath of this violence are those excusing all of this.
The Cincinnati Chief of Police initially spent more time criticizing the media for reporting on the video than on the brawl and the assailants.
She said it was an unfair portrayal of the incident as it only showed one side of what went on.
Of course, almost a week later we still have not learned anything about "the other side of the story."
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| Source: https://www.nysun.com/article/cincinnati-chief-viral-social-media-weekend-racial-melee-misrepresents-circumstances-brawl |
Chief Theetge must have seen how poorly that excuse went over and she subsequently spent time the next day blaming bar owners who might have served the assailants as the problem.
She finally got around to arresting some of the people who had been involved in the brawl but refused to provide any names.
Cincinnati media is reporting that these are three of those charged in the melee.
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| Source: https://www.fox19.com/2025/07/28/five-charged-connection-with-viral-brawl-police-chief-says/ |
However, the excuses continue.
The mother of Montianez Merriweather is taking issue with her son being referred to as a thug.
She says her 34 year old son has five kids and is in school on the honor roll.
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| Link: https://x.com/_johnnymaga/status/1950728938113712633 |
From Cincinnati Enquirer reporting on Merriweather, the honor roll student.
In any event, notwithstanding the bail issue, shouldn't the father of 5 children be home with them at 3am in the morning?
The excuses are even being made by a Cincinnati City Councilwoman who stated on social media that the white victims in the brawl "begged for the beat down" and said she "was grateful for the whole story".
When questioned by the media, she doubled down on her statement.
Keep in mind that this is the current President Pro of the Cincinnati City Council!
Does Holly, the white female victim who was doing nothing more than attempting to keep the peace in the brawl, look like she was begging for that beat down?
This photo was provided by Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno who released the photo with Holly's permission.
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| Source: https://x.com/berniemoreno/status/1950687476529689034 |
Seeing all of this it is not difficult to conclude there are serious problems in what is known as "The Queen City".
It also shows that it is high time that the African American community stops making excuses and starts taking accountability and responsibility for some of its failures.
Yes, there have been past injustices and it is unlikely that all racism will ever be eliminated.
However, everything is not due to racism.
Everything is not due to poverty.
Everything is not the result of slavery 160 years ago.
Everything is not due to Donald Trump and the Republicans.
It is well past time for the African American community to look inward and address some of the issues that more directly underlie all of this.
Out of wedlock births.
Fatherless homes.
Glorification of guns, drugs and violence.
The notion that any social norms are to be disregarded because they are a part of "white culture".
Relying more on DEI than focusing on individual merit for advancement.
Someone reached out to me after viewing the video of the Cincinnati brawl with this question,
"How can we be so different in such basic perspectives?"
Indeed.
Sadly, this brawl is likely to engender more racism.
Whites have to do their part. However, after viewing this video, it takes a special type of person to walk along a downtown street followed by a group of young African Americans and not feel some form of trepidation.
The Black community must recognize the problem and confront it themselves.
If we are going to be able to come together on some of the most basic perspectives involving humanity, it is time for the excuses to end.
There is only one race that matters---the human race.
It is time that humanity rules over race.
I hope they are charged with attempted murder.
ReplyDeleteWatching that video brought back memories of the attack on Reginald Denny during the ‘92 riots in LA. If memory serves me only one of the attackers served any meaningful time.
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