Suspects identified in viral fight videos in downtown Cincinnati, police union president says

Police have identified several suspects believed to be involved in a fight in downtown Cincinnati that is circulating in viral social media videos.

Four or five suspects have been identified and police are continuing to field tips that could lead to arrests and more suspects being identified, said Ken Kober, the Cincinnati police union president.

Cincinnati police had not announced any arrests by the morning of July 28. A department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a phone call from The Enquirer asking about arrests and the police response to the incident.

A post by the Signal 99 Facebook page claims the fight took place at the corner of Fourth and Elm streets during the evening of Friday, July 25. In another video posted on Facebook by Marvin C. Bennett, the LoVe on Fourth nightclub can be seen in the background.

However, Cincinnati police said the incident happened July 26 near the intersection of Fourth and Elm streets. Kober said that police responded to the scene, but that he didn’t have any more information to share on the response.

Signal 99, a Facebook page which calls itself “a Spicy meme page for Cops, Firefighters, Medics and Dispatchers,” shared the video the morning of July 26. It went on to gain traction on multiple platforms, including on Mayoral candidate and JD Vance’s half-brother Cory Bowman’s Facebook page, and additional angles of the incident have also been shared. Elon Musk and Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, also weighed in.

Seen in one of the videos is a group of people striking one man until he falls to the ground as they continue to punch and kick him. Shortly after, another man is seen punching a woman in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, where she remained motionless until a person helped pick her back up.

“That was nothing more than a savage attack,” Kober said. “There’s no place in society for what we saw.”

Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge previously said the fight stemmed from “a sudden dispute between individuals following a verbal altercation.” City officials have made a recent push to reduce crime in the city’s urban core.

“I am in complete disgust waking up to the viral video many of you have now seen,” Theetge said in a statement on July 26. “The behavior displayed is nothing short of cruel and absolutely unacceptable … Our investigative team is working diligently to identify every individual involved in causing harm.”

The incident remains under investigation and Theetge is asking anyone with information about the incident to call CrimeStoppers at 513-352-3040.

Enquirer reporters Cameron Knight, David Ferrara and Aaron Valdez contributed.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Suspects identified in viral fight videos in downtown Cincinnati, police union president says

Reporting by Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer

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