CINCINNATI — A new video obtained by WCPO 9 News shows the moments before and after a violent fight in downtown Cincinnati that has garnered national attention.
The video, recorded by someone who was across the street from the action, shows a fight between two men with multiple people surrounding them. They scuffle before being broken up and people appear to be standing on the sidewalk, not engaging. A short time later, while this new video is obstructed, the parts of the fight that have gone viral break out.
Additionally, the video showed the moments after the violence, where one of the men who had been thrown to the ground can be heard saying a racial slur. When he says it, multiple men begin walking toward him, one of whom begins kicking at him as he sits on the ground.
You can watch that video here:
People try to separate them as the man gets off the ground, and he once again says the slur multiple times as he tries to approach the man who kicked him.
"He's 62 years old," another man yells as the two men square up in the middle of the intersection.
As people continue to try to separate them, the man talks to the people separating them and says, "Hit him, hit that little n—r." He then walks up to one of the men separating them and says, "I didn't do it. I was on the ground. This b—h hit me."
A different viral video posted to social media over the weekend shows the middle of a fight at the intersection of 4th and Elm streets early Saturday morning. In the video, dozens of people can be seen in the street.
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At one point, a man is chased into the road before he is kicked and stomped on by several others. That man is then eventually helped up before he collapses again in the street. When he's helped up a second time, the man has a bloody nose and visible scrapes on his face.
After the man leaves the frame of the video, a woman punches another woman in the back of the head. After the woman who was punched backs away, a man punches her directly in the face, causing her to collapse to the ground, unconscious. Blood can be seen pouring from her mouth.
A group of people then helps the woman as she regains consciousness before the video ends.
During a press conference Friday afternoon, Rev. Damon Lynch references a third video that appears to show the moment things turned violent.
"It was a Black man and a white man, one-on-one," Lynch said. "They were facing each other. No punches were thrown. A kick was tried that didn't land. ... Then a Black man stepped in between the combatants, separated them and said, 'This is enough. Stop fighting. Everybody needs to chill.'"
"And then ... the white man then steps back in the ring and slaps, not the Black man that he had just squared up with, but slaps another Black man. So after that, he was met with disproportionate force," Lynch said.
Lynch's comments were the first time any local leader had directly referenced the moments leading up to the fight.
In court earlier this week, CPD detective Barnabas Blank said surveillance footage viewed by police showed 34-year-old Montianez Merriweather walking up to a man and whispering something to him before walking away. From there, Blank said it appeared Merriweather and the man argued and the fight broke out. Blank called it "an ambush."
Brandon Fox, an attorney for one of the other men charged in the fight, 39-year-old Jermaine Matthews, disputed that version of events and appeared to tell a story that matches the video Lynch referenced. Fox said Matthews attempted to break up a fight that was happening on the sidewalk. When he walked back to his vehicle, Fox said Mathews saw a man he had spoken to earlier kicking it.
"This white individual reaches over, says 'That's your car?' and slaps my client in the face," said Fox. "That person threw the first punch."
Prosecutors argued in court that Matthews was seen on video kicking people and repeatedly jumping back into the fight, visibly enraged. However, Blank conceded that Matthews was hit in the face before then.
The detective agreed that Matthews appeared to be trying to break up a fight and not start one, but "when he gets mugged in the face, everything goes south from there."
In Friday's press conference, Theetge confirmed that Lynch was explaining what he saw in a video that has been posted on social media. She said she will soon be releasing additional footage, including body camera, "that tells a little bit more of the story."
Watch the entire press conference here:
"But right now, I need to let the investigators continue to do their job," Theetge said. "If I release too much, too soon, even though there’s a very strong appetite for it, I jeopardize the integrity of the investigation. And that would not be good for anybody involved."
The police chief did confirm that CPD has identified six victims — five men and one woman — and has charged six people with felonious assault and aggravated rioting. In addition to Merriweather and Matthews, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon and 37-year-old Dominique Kittle were arrested. Theetge said police are still actively pursuing the remaining two people, who have yet to be identified.
