7th Cincinnati mob attack suspect arrested; black leaders want charges against white male who slapped black male's face
A seventh Cincinnati mob attack suspect has been arrested — and black leaders want charges brought against a white male who was seen on video slapping the face of a black male just before the July 26 beatdown began.
Gregory Wright, 32, was taken into custody Monday and booked into the Hamilton County jail by 4:30 p.m. on charges of aggravated riot and aggravated robbery, WXIX-TV reported, adding that he pleaded not guilty at his Tuesday arraignment.
'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.'
Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Tyrone Yates set Wright's bond at $100,000, the station said, adding that he will be on lockdown at home with an electronic monitoring device on his ankle if he bonds out of jail.
A criminal complaint indicates that police said 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 reported.
Wright then put the necklace in his pocket and took video of "the rest of the events," the station said, citing a police flyer asking for information about the suspect, now identified as Wright.
WXIX, citing court records, reported that Wright is a convicted heroin trafficker who, for most of his adult life, has been in and out of state prison and Hamilton County's jail.
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Cincinnati police alleged in court filings in late 2013 and early 2014 that he sold heroin to a confidential informant on four occasions, including near the Cincinnati Zoo Academy.
They wrote in one of his many criminal complaints that he ran from officers on Nov. 1, 2013, in the area of Parkwood Avenue in Avondale and threw a plastic baggie holding individual prepared baggies of heroin.
When police caught up with him later that day on Vine Street, he had $662 on him and an additional baggie of heroin in his vehicle, the court filing states.
Several charges against him have been dropped amid plea deals with prosecutors or dismissed altogether at their request, the court filings show.
Those include possession of fentanyl, obstructing official business, trafficking in heroin, and possession of drugs.
WXIX also said Wright has been convicted of possession of drugs, illegally having a gun — he is unable to possess one due to his previous felony conviction — and carrying concealed weapons.
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In the 2021 gun case, he was accused of running when police responded to a fight on Crown Point Drive in Sharonville.
Then, he violated the conditions of his probation by failing to report to his probation officer later that year, court records continue.
He failed to comply with his electronic monitoring court order, accumulating multiple curfew violations between Aug. 24, 2021, and June 28, 2022, plus the battery was dead on his ankle bracelet, the probation violation order states.
As Blaze News previously reported, six Cincinnati mob attack suspects were indicted Friday and hit with additional charges — and could get decades behind bars. At the time, the six were the only suspects police had charged in connection with the mob attack, but authorities also noted that more arrests and charges could be forthcoming.
WLWT-TV said the following five suspects have appeared in court: 39-year-old Jermaine Matthews, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon, 34-year-old Montianez Merriweather, 25-year-old Aisha Devaughn, and 37-year-old Dominique Kittle. A sixth suspect, 38-year-old Patrick Rosemond, was arrested last Monday in Georgia.
All six suspects were indicted on eight charges each: three counts of felonious assault, three counts of assault, and two counts of aggravated riot, WLWT said, adding that each suspect faces up to 29.5 years in prison if convicted on all eight charges.
You can view cellphone videos of the mob attack here, here, here, here, and here.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati's black leaders are saying the case's prosecution so far has been unfair to the black community — and they're demanding charges against a 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 to a crowd Monday at New Prospect Baptist Church in the Roselawn neighborhood, WXIX reported in a separate story.
After Lynch, who is black, played video of the face slap, he told the crowd, "And [mean]while the only people charged — again I'll say it — are the ones who look like me," the station said.
Ohio state Rep. Cecil Thomas (D) of Cincinnati added that "we have been asking why that individual, who slapped the black person, that ignited what has been identified as aggravated rioting, wasn't under arrest," WXIX noted.
Senior Pastor Tracie Hunter of Western Hills Brethren in Christ — who's also an attorney and a former Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge — said the case's investigation has been unjust, with unequal prosecution between white and black suspects, the station said.
"Six black people have been indicted ... but the white individual that appeared to incite the fight or riot and the other white individuals involved have not been charged at all," Hunter said, according to WXIX.
Hunter added that the white man "clearly intended to commit violence when he slapped the black man and set off the chain of events," the station reported.
WXIX said it reached out to Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge for comment and is waiting to hear back; in addition, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment to the station.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval on Tuesday 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 yet another story.
The mayor added that "until everyone is held accountable, we haven't served justice," the station said.
Pureval during an Aug. 1 news conference about the mob attack said the male seen on video issuing the slap prior to the beatdown is being "actively investigated."
BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock — who's been commenting consistently on the mob beatdown since it all unfolded late last month — on Tuesday blasted Cincinnati's black leaders for their collective stance.
"If anybody watched this video, if anybody sees men and women kicking a man while he's down, if anybody sees a picture of a woman beaten, knocked out, and says, 'Hey, I'm going to organize a press conference at a church in Cincinnati,' and black leaders are going to complain, 'Hey, why isn't this white man that's getting kicked in the head, why hasn't he been charged?' that's a group of people in need of some humility," Whitlock said.
RELATED: 8 mainstream news outlets that REFUSED to cover Cincinnati mob attack
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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."
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