Last weekend, a white couple was attacked and brutally beaten and kicked by a mob of young black assailants in Cincinnati while a musical festival took place nearby. The story has garnered national attention, especially with complaints over the local response. Since then, the story appears to be getting worse for one of Ohio’s largest cities, with a city councilwoman and a Cincinnati consultant now coming under fire.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has been calling out Democrat Mayor Aftab Pureval’s response from the start. The mayor’s office has not returned The Daily Signal’s multiple attempts for comment. Moreno has now also highlighted concerning remarks about the incident from City Councilwoman Victoria Parks over social media.
Parks’ comments have gone viral on X. “They begged for that beatdown,” she wrote. “I am grateful for the whole story.” The Daily Signal reached out to Parks’ office for comment.
The councilwoman, who is not running for reelection, has faced calls to resign. Although she appears to have deleted her social media accounts, WLWT reports she confirmed she “stands by her statement.” According to WLWT, other city councilmembers are condemning the violence and Parks’ response.
Parks’ emphasis on race can be seen on the Cincinnati government website. As her page reads in part:
As Commissioner, Parks focused on ways to spend public money wisely, and expanded opportunities for under-served communities. She led the charge in passing Racism as a Public Health Crisis, in Hamilton County. …She introduced, and passed, Juneteenth as a paid holiday for Hamilton County employees. She introduced Proclamations for Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Women’s Equality Day, to name a few.
Parks is not the only major player in Cincinnati drawing negative reaction for her response to the attack. Iris Roley, a consultant for the city and an advisor in the city manager’s office similarly posted concerning remarks on social media.
According to Fox 19, Roley says her comments were taken out of context:
Roley said she, too, was a target.
“These comments were taken completely out of context,” she said.
Roley and a former Cincinnati police officer were guests on a Facebook podcast where they discussed what police have said was a “violent attack” Downtown.
“We were having a contentious banter back and forth,” Rowley said.
She posted, “He deserved it. All of it,” which some people took to be directed at one of the men who was beaten.
“The ‘he’ that I’m referring to is Andre Ewing, the former Cincinnati police officer,” she explained.
Pureval has also drawn criticism from the start, as he did not put out a statement about the attack until Monday. On Wednesday night he reposted Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who offered his assistance to the city.
When reached for comment, DeWine’s office directed The Daily Signal to a press release from the governor detailing how the state is providing “additional manpower” to the Cincinnati police department.
Cory Bowman, who is running against Pureval this year as a Republican, shared reports from Fox 19’s Tricia Macke that Pureval did not wish to accept all resources offered.
The U.S. Department of Justice has already taken an interest, with Attorney General Pam Bondi promising DOJ would investigate the attack and Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon also posting about the possible civil rights violations involved.
That may not be the end of the road for federal involvement in the incident. Moreno told Fox News on Thursday he would call for a review of federal funding to the city.
The senator stressed that Cincinnati is “an amazing city,” and blamed “the idiotic political leaders that the citizens allow to have public office,” insisting “they need to go.”
“I’m gonna call on all federal agencies to review the funding that we provide Cincinnati and I’m giving the leaders of Cincinnati one month to come up with a plan for them to protect civil rights for their citizens,” Moreno shared, indicating if they don’t comply, he’ll “ask these agencies to suspend all federal funding because we’re not going to put up with this!”
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