Cincinnati police looking for another mob attack suspect; videos appear to show him punching white male just after slap
Cincinnati police are looking for another mob attack suspect — and videos appear to depict him as the first individual to go after the white male who slapped a black male in the face immediately before the beatdown late last month.
Police provided an image of the suspect in question and said in their X post that "Central Business Section is investigating a Felonious Assault offense that occurred on 4th Street and Elm on July 26, 2025. If you have any information, please contact Det. Blank at 513-352-5442."
'You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind, you don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger, and you don't slap a black man in the face.'
The suspect in question is seen in the photo wearing a dark bucket-style hat with white lettering on the front, a white short-sleeved shirt with black lettering and multicolored designs, black shorts, and red and white sneakers.
One cellphone video appears to show a rear view of the suspect standing just to the right of the black male whose face was slapped by the white male. Just after the slap, the still-unknown suspect — whose shirt seems to read "Loyalty Is Rare" among other words on the back — appears to punch at the white male, after which others join in and also go after the white male.
A second cellphone video shows the same thing as the previous video, except it was recorded from the front. However, from the front angle, the suspect's apparent retaliation against the white male seems rather minimal; his thrown punch and shove don't appear to do any damage, and he's quickly pulled away. However, others who join in appear to be more successful in their physical attacks.
A third cellphone video — which is the main clip of the attack — appears to show the suspect following two attackers who go after the white male and knock him down in the street; soon he's thoroughly beaten up with punches and stomps. However, in the third clip the suspect in question doesn't appear to get physical with anybody, including the white male he appeared to go after following the earlier slap.
Cincinnati police on Tuesday didn't immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment about the suspect — specifically if police view him as helping to fuel the mob attack, or if other videos show him doing other things. Police on Tuesday also didn't immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment regarding if the white male who delivered the slap will be charged.
Cincinnati's black leaders have said the case's prosecution so far has been unfair to the black community — and they've demanded charges against the white male seen on video slapping the face of a black male just prior to the mob attack breaking out.
"What incited and who incited the rioting? If the riot is because of a slap, who incited the rioting?" Rev. Damon Lynch said recently to a crowd at New Prospect Baptist Church, WXIX-TV reported.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval around the same time said, "If you slap someone, if you engage in that kind of violence, you should be held accountable. I'm not going to tell the investigators what to do; that's not my role,” WXIX said in a separate story.
BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock — who's been commenting on the mob beatdown since it all unfolded late last month — blasted Cincinnati's black leaders for their collective stance.
One of the clips Whitlock aired shows Rev. Lynch altering the lyrics of a Jim Croce song for his own purposes as he spoke to the crowd at church: "You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind, you don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger, and you don't slap a black man in the face."
Whitlock responded to Lynch's words by saying, "Why is he racializing this? It's disrespectful to slap anyone, regardless of color, in the face. Is he saying ... if a black person slaps a black person in the face, it's OK? If a black gang member shoots a black man in the face, it's OK? If a black gang member accidentally shoots some young black child, it's OK? But everybody knows that you don't slap a black man in the face, I guess, unless you're black. He's in a church talking about common street thugs — and I'll include the white guy in that, because he ... seemed to be trying to fight with someone. ... [The reverend is] justifying to the people in that audience and other black people in Cincinnati that if you get slapped in the face by a white person, a gang of you all should jump on that man and beat up the woman. This is inside of a church! This is insanity; this is lack of humility."
Chief Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Kip Guinan also addressed the face slap, saying that it came after someone else was already beaten, not before, WXIX reported in another story. Guinan also acknowledged that racial slurs are audible on some of the videos of the mob attack — however, he said the slurs were uttered "a minute and 47 seconds into the brutal beatdown," the station reported.
"Were there words said? Yes. Were they inappropriate? Absolutely," Guinan also noted, WXIX reported, before adding that "these poor people were being assaulted, stomped WWE-style, elbow-drops onto pavement. One woman was knocked out to the point her head hit the pavement. We could be here on a homicide.”
So far, seven suspects have been charged in connection with the mob attack. Six of them — four males and two females — have been indicted on eight charges each: three counts of felonious assault, three counts of assault, and two counts of aggravated riot. Those six face nearly 30 years in jail if convicted on all charges.
The two female suspects got big breaks last week from a judge who reduced their bonds of several hundred thousand dollars each down to $25,000 each, of which they owed just 10%. Fox News said the two females were released from jail Friday.
The seventh suspect — 32-year-old Gregory Wright — was indicted Friday for aggravated riot and aggravated robbery, WXIX reported in another story, citing court records. Wright pleaded not guilty at his initial arraignment, the station said.
Police said in a criminal complaint that Wright "did by force rip the necklace off the victim while he was being assaulted by four or more co-defendants attempting to cause serious physical harm," WXIX said, adding that a police flyer indicated Wright put the necklace in his pocket and then took video of the rest of the mob attack. Wright remained behind bars Tuesday evening, jail records show.
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'Despicable human being!!' Cincinnati official triggers venomous reactions to her comment about mob attack victims
A Cincinnati council member is drawing intense backlash over a comment she made about the victims of last weekend's viral mob attack.
Victoria Parks — the city council's president pro tem — said "they begged for that beat down!" the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
'Disgusting comment! Victim shaming! NO ONE deserves that type of assault! You need to be removed from public office!'
Parks' comment went up at 4:50 a.m. Sunday under another Facebook user's post that includes video of the physical attack. Her comment — in which she added, "I am grateful for the whole story" — was still visible Thursday morning within the post.
Those reacting underneath her comment didn't hold back:
Others visited Parks' own Facebook page and flooded one of her posts — unrelated to the mob attack — with angry words:
Blaze News on Wednesday emailed Parks and asked her if she posted the comment and would care to explain it; Parks as of Thursday afternoon has not yet replied to Blaze News' inquiry.
Same deal with the Enquirer. The paper said Parks "did not respond to multiple messages Wednesday seeking comment. Parks’ office in Cincinnati City Hall was dark and the door was locked on Wednesday afternoon when an Enquirer reporter knocked. There was no answer."
However, WLWT-TV said Parks confirmed that she did post the comment and stands by it.
Fellow council member Meeka Owens noted to WLWT in reference to Parks' words that "making comments that inflame a violent incident is never acceptable" and that "endorsing violence is neither effective nor responsible." Owens added to the station that "it is not beneficial to the city nor the region when [Parks] advocates for violence as a means of retribution" and that "the comments of one lame-duck member of Cincinnati City Council do not represent the opinions or perspectives of the Council as a whole, and certainly not mine.”
Parks announced in January that she isn't running for re-election.
'The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified.'
In one widely shared cellphone video of the early Saturday morning beatdown, a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants is chased into the street and knocked down before multiple attackers repeatedly punch and kick and stomp him over the course of nearly a minute amid hooting and hollering. Soon a woman in a blue dress is seen apparently trying to intervene on behalf of the beaten-up man, but she's punched in the back of her head by another female — and seconds later, a male punches her in the face, knocking her flat on her back on the street. A disturbing close-up of the woman's face shows her eyes wide open and body motionless before a few people try to help her up.
A second clip shows three other men knocked to the surface of the same street. Then one attacker leaps and lands his body atop one of the male victims — pro-wrestling-style — while the victim is still lying on the street surface. Afterward, a laughing, smiling male pulls the attacker away.
A third video shows what appears to be the same victim from the previous clip getting pummeled from behind and knocked to the ground as a voice is heard saying, "Sleep him again!" The victim is then dragged by his foot into the middle of the street.
A fourth video, however, appears to show what preceded the beatdown as depicted in the first video. It shows the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants — who was beaten up in the first video — squaring off with a male in a red shirt and black shorts who would soon take part in the mob attack. It appears to show the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts — and then it's on.
An additional Facebook video appears to show even more of what occurred prior to the mob attack. It depicts what seems to be a verbal argument and minor scuffle that was on its way to calming down, and the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants seems to lightly slap the face of the male in the red shirt and black shorts, which — as noted above — leads to the beatdown.
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.
"That's ridiculous to me," Whitlock said. "The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified."
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Police have arrested three of the five charged suspects in connection with the mob attack — and one of the arrestees reportedly was out on bond for weapons charges when the street beatdown took place.
The arrestees so far are: 39-year-old Jermaine Matthews, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon, and 34-year-old Montianez Merriweather, WXIX-TV reported. The two other charged suspects have not been named.
Merriweather and Vernon were booked Tuesday afternoon into the Hamilton County Justice Center on charges of felonious assault and aggravated riot, WXIX said, citing jail and court records. Matthews was booked into the county jail just after 1 a.m. Wednesday on charges of aggravated riot and assault, the station reported.
Merriweather was "identified on video punching [the] victim while co-defendants are stomping the victim in the head," while Vernon "struck [the] victim in the face with a closed fist prior to the victim becoming unconscious from the attack," WXIX reported, citing criminal complaints. Details on Matthews' case had not yet been filed in the court record, the station said.
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The Cincinnati Enquirer said Vernon's bond was set at $200,000. Hamilton County court records show she has no prior criminal convictions in the county, the paper reported in a separate story.
Merriweather's situation is a bit more complicated, shall we say.
It turns out he was indicted July 10 on four felony charges after investigators said he was found in possession of a stolen firearm, the Enquirer reported. Court records indicate he was charged with carrying concealed weapons, receiving stolen property, improper handling of firearms in a vehicle, and weapons under disability, the paper noted. The weapons under disability charge stems from a 2009 felony conviction for aggravated robbery, the Enquirer said, citing documents.
But after his indictment just two weeks ago, Merriweather was released upon posting 10% of a $4,000 bond, the paper said.
"He never should have been out," Ken Kober, Cincinnati police union president, told the Enquirer.
Merriweather's bond in connection with the mob attack charges against him was set at $500,000, the Enquirer reported.
As for Matthews, his bond was set at $100,000, the paper said — although he later was charged with felony assault, as well, and a bond for that charge will be discussed at a Thursday hearing.
Matthews apparently is no stranger to law enforcement, either. More from WXIX:
The FBI on Monday opened an investigation into the mob attack, WXIX reported. Fox News said the incident is under investigation as a potential hate crime.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa A. Theetge told NewsNation Monday she anticipates more people will be charged over the mob attack and said, "Anyone who put their hands on another individual during this incident in an attempt to cause harm will face consequences.”
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