Deputies investigate man beaten, stripped over racial slur at MS club
Lt. Colonel Kelly McMillen with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office says the investigation into the reported beating of a White man at a popular African American club in Holly Springs called C.J.'s Lounge is ongoing.
'At this point, that's a critical part of this investigation because we have heard the same thing. However, we want to make sure that is exactly what happened, and if it is, that will be reacted on as well,' said Lt. Colonel McMillen.
Former Monroe County district judge sentenced to federal prison for obstruction
'I was hearing him yell out and blare out the N word repeatedly,' said Myles Stone, part-time DJ and security at C.J.'s Lounge. 'Everyone on planet earth has to live with their choices, and he walked in there with a choice to be very hateful, very negative.'
Investigators say they believe the incident started inside C.J.'s Lounge and spilled out into this courtyard. This is where investigators say the victim was beaten, robbed, and stripped of his clothing while a number of people recorded and laughed.
'The victim, unfortunately, his jaw's busted open, his eye's busted. He's just in a terrible state of mind right now,' said Lt. Colonel McMillen. 'We're trying to adopt some search warrants, get those done, and see if we can retrieve information from those social media accounts.'
Clayborn Temple fire ruled arson; person sought
C.J.'s Lounge has been closed by the city because of the incident and the number of previous complaints.
WREG has reached out to the owner of the club for a comment but has not received a response.
We're told the victim has been released from the hospital in New Albany and is being interviewed by investigators again.
If you have information, you can contact the Holly Springs Police at 919-557-9111 or the Marshall County Sheriff's Office at 931-359-6122.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
If the races were reversed, would you be as outraged about the downtown brawl?
The footage from Fourth and Elm wasn't just another late-night brawl. It spread wildly across the country because it struck a raw American wound: race. A group of Black people beating a white man, a white woman knocked unconscious − those images tap our inherited fears and our learned biases. Pretending otherwise is dishonest. And dishonesty is exactly how we keep ending up here, talking past each other in different languages instead of moving with a shared purpose rooted in our common humanity and love for this city. Cincinnati − and America − still handles race like a hot stove: quick touches, lots of flinching, and no real repair. We swap slogans, not truth. We all suffer from racial battle fatigue. That's why moments like this fracture our community. We default to competing storylines designed to vindicate our side rather than illuminate what happened and what it means. We still don't know how the July 26 confrontation began. What sparked the initial beef between the men involved? Those details may surface in court. But even with incomplete facts, one thing is clear: Race is not a footnote in this incident. It's a live wire running through it. More: What started fight in Cincinnati? City is focus after brawl videos go viral. What we know Why Cincinnati brawl clip went viral If the races were reversed − white people pummeling a Black man − the video would still make national news. It just might be circulated 24/7 by MSNBC instead of Fox News, and the tone would almost certainly be different, shaped by America's brutal history of racial violence against Black people. White residents who say the reaction among some would've changed aren't imagining things. They're noticing how history shapes our headlines and our hearts. That admission doesn't diminish what happened here; it helps explain why it detonated online and on cable news. The video wasn't just violence; it was symbolism. A quick, convenient story has taken off: That white people were attacked simply for being white and downtown. That may comfort certain political arguments, but it flattens reality. What we do know is that a white man used a racial slur during the chaos. Many believe that the act poured gasoline on an already hot situation. Here are two truths grown-ups should be able to hold at once: Using a slur never justifies a mob beating. And hurling a slur at Black people in 2025 − given the history and the temperature of our times − rarely leads anywhere good. Acknowledging the latter is not "victim-blaming;" it's a sober account of how inflammatory language can escalate danger, especially when alcohol is involved. We can condemn the violence without excusing the slur. We can condemn the slur without excusing the violence. Accountability is not a one-lane street. Letter: The Cincinnati brawl exposed more than violence. It exposed our values Everyone involved must be called out for what they chose to do, not for what we want them to symbolize in some broader culture war. That includes those who threw punches and kicks − and the man who slapped another person and hurled a word that has been used to degrade and dehumanize for centuries. A Hamilton County assistant prosecutor noted last week that unreleased video shows the slapper himself being harassed before everything went down. That may matter in court, but outside the courtroom, we can still say plainly that none of this conduct is acceptable. Equal dignity demands that we speak against all of it − the violence, the slurs and the escalating provocation − because each choice poured fuel on a fire that has burned our entire city. And it's not just about those directly involved. The rest of us − neighbors, leaders, and media alike − have a responsibility to resist the urge to excuse "our side" and instead call wrong what is wrong, no matter who commits it. Check your outrage We each owe ourselves a hard question: If the races were different, would my outrage be the same? If your answer is no, ask why. Bias doesn't just live in people we dislike; it lives in the mirrors hanging in our own homes. The test of principle is whether it survives a change in the players involved. Some Cincinnatians are processing the "brawl" against a backdrop of broader anxiety about crime in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. The perception is that violent crime is out of control. There is also a perception − fueled by daily news reports showing mostly Black suspects in handcuffs or standing before a judge − that the face of crime is Black. The statistics don't help: The majority of people charged with murder in Hamilton County are Black, and most gun violence in our city is perpetrated on Black people. So when a white or Black Cincinnatian closes their eyes and envisions "a criminal," odds are they see a Black face. Letter: I'm a white woman who feels safe in downtown Cincinnati despite the hysteria For law-abiding Black citizens, that stereotype stings. Too often, Black people are lumped in with the worst among us, judged not as individuals but by the crimes of those who share our skin color. I reject that. Most Black people I know follow the law and, in many cases, are the very victims of the crimes that others fear. Black residents probably call the police just as much, if not more, than anybody. That's why we must resist the temptation to paint an entire race with a broad brush. And that caution cuts both ways − Blacks stereotyping whites is no more just or accurate. This incident was politicized and racialized from the start. That's not an accident. Bad actors on the left and right rush in to monetize outrage and build followers. Hate groups − from the Ku Klux Klan to neo-Nazis − circulate flyers and posts to recruit from our pain. Criminals benefit when communities spiral into mutual suspicion; it means fewer witnesses, thinner trust, and more space to operate. Meanwhile, Cincinnati suffers because too many of us would rather win the argument than win each other. What honesty demands now Honesty asks something harder than choosing sides. We must name race without weaponizing it. Say out loud that this video struck a nerve because race matters in America − and in Cincinnati. Not to excuse anything, but to explain why it feels like a five-alarm fire. We must also reject narrative spinning. Don't turn a slur into a defense for assault. Don't turn a brutal beating into proof that every downtown resident is a target. Both moves are dishonest − and both make tomorrow more dangerous. We must hold facts and empathy together. We need both: what happened, and what it felt like to those involved and watching. Opinion: What happened downtown was racial violence, and we must say it We must also practice civility and moral courage. Listen to people you'd rather silence. Sit in rooms where you'll hear things you don't like. Ask a sincere follow-up instead of assuming the worst. That's not weakness; it's how we heal. To avoid repeating our mistakes, we must learn to speak together in a language that centers equal dignity and shared stakes. That means making space for uncomfortable facts: race influenced how this started, how it spiraled, how it was covered, and how we reacted. It also means choosing a different path forward. We must demand principled leadership, not performative threats. We need solutions that reduce harm and restore trust − credible prosecutions, transparent communication, and concrete prevention strategies − rather than grandstanding that treats Cincinnati like a political prop. And we must measure our success by the repair. In other words, if our "wins" leave us more divided, they aren't wins. Real success looks like fewer viral videos, fewer opportunists feasting on our anger, and more neighbors who can disagree without dehumanizing each other. We can be honest about the role race played here without turning this city into a permanent battlefield. We can hold people accountable without surrendering to the cheapest storylines. And we can insist that Cincinnati is worth more than the clicks, the clout, and the chaos that others hope to wring out of our pain. The fight at Fourth and Elm is a test. Not just of what we believe about race and justice, but of whether we love this city enough to tell each other the truth − and to stay in the room long enough to do something about it. Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge can be reached at kaldridge@ On X: @kevaldrid. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Cincinnati brawl went viral because race still matters | Opinion
Fox News
9 hours ago
- Fox News
Victim in viral Cincinnati street brawl now charged in case, police say
A man whom police identified as a victim in the violent street brawl in Cincinnati that left several people injured last month has been charged, investigators said. The unidentified 45-year-old White man is charged with disorderly conduct, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, for his alleged role in the July 26 melee in the city's downtown. Police said his status as a victim in the beating prevents them from releasing his name under Marsy's Law, which gives crime victims the option to have their names withheld from public release. He is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 26. The fight broke out in the early morning hours on the corner of Fourth and Elm streets. Footage of the brawl quickly went viral. Last week, a seventh suspect, Gregory Wright, 32, was charged with alleged aggravated riot and aggravated robbery. Police allege 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," according to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox 19. Wright allegedly snatched the victim's necklace during the beating before proceeding "to film the rest of the events," the outlet reported. Earlier this month, six defendants were indicted by a grand jury for their alleged roles in the beatdown. Patrick Rosemond, 38, Jermaine Matthews, 39, Montianez Merriweather, 34, DeKyra Vernon, 24, Dominique Kittle, 37, and Aisha Devaughn, 25, are each charged with three counts of alleged felonious assault, three charges of assault and two charges of aggravated rioting, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Fox News Digital.
New York Post
13 hours ago
- New York Post
Eighth suspect charged in viral Cincinnati street brawl has surprising involvement in case
An eighth person allegedly involved in the violent street brawl in Cincinnati that left several people injured last month has been charged, police said. The unidentified 45-year-old White man is charged with disorderly conduct, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, for his alleged role in the July 26 melee in the city's downtown. Advertisement The man is also considered by police to be a victim of the brawl, which prevents authorities from releasing his name under Marsy's Law, which gives crime victims the option to have their names withheld from public release. He is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 26. The fight broke out in the early morning hours on the corner of Fourth and Elm streets. Footage of the brawl quickly went viral. Advertisement Last week, a seventh suspect, Gregory Wright, 32, was charged with alleged aggravated riot and aggravated robbery. Police allege 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,' according to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox 19. 4 A man sits on the ground after being attacked during the Downtown Cincinnati brawl on July 26, 2025. X 4 A Cincinnati police officer stands on the sidewalk near the site of the brutal brawl. FOX News Advertisement 4 Holly, a female victim who was attacked in Cincinnati, shows off her injuries. 4 A woman lays on the street after being knocked out cold during the brawl. Wright allegedly snatched the victim's necklace during the beating before proceeding 'to film the rest of the events,' the outlet reported. Advertisement Earlier this month, six defendants were indicted by a grand jury for their alleged roles in the beatdown. Patrick Rosemond, 38, Jermaine Matthews, 39, Montianez Merriweather, 34, DeKyra Vernon, 24, Dominique Kittle, 37, and Aisha Devaughn, 25, are each charged with three counts of alleged felonious assault, three charges of assault and two charges of aggravated rioting, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Fox News Digital.
