Pureval joined other city officials and community leaders in a press conference on Aug. 1 to discuss the violence that erupted on July 27.
Cincinnati officials said in an Aug. 1 press conference that widely circulated social media videos showing the attacks on two people during a street brawl last weekend portrayed the city in a cynical and unfair manner.
The city’s Democrat Mayor Aftab Pureval, Police Chief Teresa Theetge, and City Manager Sheryl Long were flanked by several community leaders at the press conference.
“It’s overt racial tensions that have been claimed by irresponsible leaders, who have unfortunately cynically tried to take advantage of this awful fight and try and divide us,” Pureval said.
The incident happened on July 27 at 3:06 a.m., when Cincinnati’s downtown area was crowded with more than 150,000 people attending a Cincinnati Reds game, the Cincinnati Music Festival, and a basketball tournament that night.
According to police reports, officers arrived on the scene at 3:12 a.m. to discover the attacks had ended. Most participants were gone, but the victims were still present.
A video filmed by an unnamed bystander during the altercation shows a man in a white T-shirt getting shoved to the ground by two assailants. Moments later, he was beaten and stomped on by multiple people, surrounded by a jeering crowd.
A woman trying to defend the man was knocked out with a punch to the face and left motionless on the ground.
Five men and one woman “were subjected to unimaginable physical violence” in the brawl, Theetge said on Aug. 1.
She added that six people have been charged with felonious assault and aggravated rioting.
Three have been arrested. Police are still searching for three more suspects, and will name them when they’re apprehended, she said.
“This remains an open investigation, and I assure you, we will not stop until justice is fully served,” Theetge said.
Pastor Damon Lynch III was among several speakers who said that the fight was racialized.
“We would not be here, and this will not be national news if this was a group of Black people that jumped on other black people,” Lynch said.
“Obviously, it’s national news because it’s been racialized.”
He said it was a street fight and not a racially motivated attack.
Pureval said that some videos show a man slapping another individual, which escalated the brawl.
The city is actively investigating the man, Pureval added.
