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CINCINNATI – Cincinnati residents say that the viral July 26 downtown beatdown that gripped the nation does not define their city, though some say violent crime is an issue.
“I don’t think it’s accurate,” Josh Pels, a downtown bartender, told Fox News Digital. “I would say the crime and violent crime in particular has gone up, I would say, over the course of the last six months for sure. [The Over-the-Rhine area] usually has it worse than we have it down here, but there’s definitely been an uptick in violent crime.”
In the video, a group of people can be seen pummeling two victims, one of whom ended up with “very bad brain trauma.” The incident occurred in the early morning hours of July 26 on the corner of Fourth and Elm Street, outside a popular nightclub.
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Another angle of the fight shows a victim being beaten in the middle of the street and yelling racial slurs. Some claim the male victim slapped one of the perpetrators before the fight, sparking the beatdown.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said in a Friday press conference that there are a total of six victims. Six people have been charged with crimes, and four have been arrested. The city’s fugitive task force is searching for the two suspects who are still at large.
Corey Mitchell is also a Cincinnati resident. He said the city doesn’t typically have problems like the brawl.
“So that was just an action-reaction type of thing,” he said. “That ain’t no big deal. They could put it up in the news and seem like it’s a prejudiced place or something like that. But that’s just an action and a reaction that happened, and disagreements. That was about it.”
Robert Brown, a life-long resident, agreed. He said Cincinnati has “probably less fights than other cities,” and that social media amplified the beating to a level that put the city in the spotlight.
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He also said that while brutal, the victim who he said slapped a man in the crowd and kicked off the beatdown, should have expected repercussions.
“Well, I mean … all the extra stuff after the smack really wasn’t warranted,” he said, adding that the perpetrators “may have took it too far.”
“At the same time, he still shouldn’t have smacked him. You know what I mean? You know, to start the whole situation off, so, you put your hands on somebody, you’re going to be ready for the repercussions,” said Brown.
A fourth resident described her immediate reaction after seeing the fight.
“I was in shock by what I saw,” said Shirley Blair. “I was busy surfing through the internet, making calls, trying to figure out there’s gotta be a backstory behind this. And apparently there were other things that happened leading up to that.”
Blair said she hopes the brawl doesn’t spiral into something even more serious.
“And in the back of my mind I wonder, okay, what’s gonna happen next? Can we sit down and talk about the situation? Is it gonna spring into something else?”
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Local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are still sorting out all the actions leading up to the fight.
In a Friday press conference, Mayor Aftab Pureval warned that everyone seen fighting will face consequences, vowing “further investigation, further charges and further arrests for every single person involved.”
Montianez Merriweather, 34, and Dekyra Vernon, 24, were arrested Tuesday night. Both face felonious assault, aggravated riot and assault charges. Merriweather is being held on a $500,000 bond, while Vernon is being held on a $200,000 bond. They remain in jail as of Monday morning.
Jermaine Matthews, 39, was released from Hamilton County Jail on Friday after paying a combined $270,000 bond. He was hit with five charges stemming from the beatdown, two counts of assault, two counts of felony assault and aggravated riot for his alleged participation in the brutal brawl.
A fourth suspect was arrested on Friday night.
Dominique Kittle faces charges of aggravated riot and misdemeanor assault. He is being held on a $150,000 bond. His attorney said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
